


Location

by lykak



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Canon Universe, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Happy Ending, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Korean Keith (Voltron), M/M, Mutual Pining, Orphan Keith (Voltron), Panic Attacks, Pining! Keith (Voltron), Pining! Lance (Voltron), Post Wormhole, Slow Burn, Some Cursing, Trans Character, When I say slow burn I mean S L O W burn, idk pidge's pronouns so let''s just stick to that, memelord Lance, nonbinary pidge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-08-27 19:08:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 24,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8413219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lykak/pseuds/lykak
Summary: "Send me your location," Keith breathed out, voice unsteady but firm at the same time. "Let's focus on communication, I just need a time and place to come through." or: Lance crashes on an alien planet and the one thing that keeps him from losing his mind is talking to Keith on the other side of the universe, lost in a sky full of stardust and unfamiliar planets.





	1. I: send me your location

**Author's Note:**

> Khalid- Location
> 
>  
> 
> Warning; briefly explains a panic attack. Read at your own discretion.

_Is this where I'll die?_

When Lance was just a kid, he accepted that he may die one day.

Sounds pretty gloomy, but it never bothered him that one day he would never move again, never see again, never think again. No one brought up the subject, or seemed bothered by it either way. Why would he? Humans have already cured multiple illnesses and sicknesses, like cancer and AIDS. They've managed to reduce the amount of fatal car crashes by a whopping forty five percent in the last century (mostly because of new hover boards, but whatever). They've signed peace treaties and establish the World Peace order. They've found a way to reduce global warming. The chances of Lance dying early were getting slimmer and slimmer by the day, so death never occurred in his mind. Even when the earlier scientists thought otherwise.

People like to either sugarcoat death or make it sound dreadful, like it's either the best or worst thing in the world, but he hadn't really cared enough to see it as either. His basic mentality was to continue living life the fullest.

Besides, if he were to die early, he would be okay with it. He's lived a fairly exciting life, and dying with his family by his side did not seem like a terrible way to go.

It never really occurred to him that he, the cocky and arrogant student at the Galaxy Garrison would leave Earth and become a paladin of Voltron, a very important group of people who's main priority was to protect worlds and galaxies and universes from the evil treacherous empire known as the Galra reign.

It was then that he realized that he had a very high risk of dying young and early, but even then, he never gave much thought of it. He had in his possession the most powerful weapon of the universe. Was it really that high of a chance?

Spinning in the corrupted wormhole, with no clue or guidance on what to actually do, he realized that indeed, the chances were pretty high.

And that's when he realized that death seemed like the worst possible scenario.

This was fucking torture.

Lance could not describe what it was like piloting Blue at that very moment. Every inch of his body burned as the swirls and colors of the wormhole made his vision blur. Not to mention, the aggressive gravitational pull seemingly turning his lion the opposite direction of where he intended to go. He felt as if his brain was being flipped and flipped again like a pancake. Everyone was screaming, cries could be heard through the intercom, and honestly if Lance could hug them all at that very moment he certainly would've. The constant spinning and screaming and colors made him throw up. In his own lion.

He cringed silently when he was finished disposing his insides. Lance suddenly felt a very strong pity toward Hunk, the yellow paladin, for having to deal with this all the time.

Now Lance had the clean that up later. How incredible. Perfect.

His fellow Paladins were close to him, unfortunately, in the same position as him. They were shrieking in panic and yelling out different things at once. They all sounded like they were in the same situation as he was. Scared and wanting the throw up.

Although it's only been a few weeks, he had a strong connection with this group of people. They were a group of kids that got thrown into a war. Lance thinks about that often.

However, if Lance had the ability to choose who would be Paladins of Voltron, he wouldn't choose any other people for the job.

"Coran!" Shiro's voice asked shakily, his usually tranquil tone now in alarm. The intercom could hear every lion's system alarms were blasting. "What's happening?!"

The screen that usually showed Allura in the castleship glitches and turns off. Lance gulped as he realized that everything was malfunctioning. Why did one of the most powerful weapons in the universe malfunction?

His helmet showed images and system errors. Lance usually saw little side notes about his location and coordinates and such. It even showed the type of species, which planet they were on, and even has a handy translator. Now, however, a series of blood orange ERRORS , Altean coding, and systematic failure pop-ups flooded his vision. The location and coordinates were changing at a rapid pace.

He felt his stomach feel queasy realizing that he had no idea where he was.

"The integrity of the wormhole has been compromised!" Coran yelled frantically. "It's breaking down!"

The usually bright electric blue smooth wormhole had been poisoned with a sick magenta and an ill Galra purple. The movements of the wormhole were choppy and glitched, sending purple lightning flashing all directions. Clouds of magenta and pink fogged the area he was at. The loud malfunctioning of the wormhole sounded like three thunderstorms at the same time.

A string of lightning bolts seemed to attack Lance, making him yelp in shock.

He was _not_ having this today.

Lance was overwhelmed with everything that seemed to flood around him. He was in full panic mode. "What's _that_ suppose to mean?!"

The paladins were screaming into the intercom, an echo of _**ERROR**_ streaming in his ears. His lion, Blue, wasn't doing too hot, either. Lance felt the blue lion struggling to keep balance, but with every passing moment, he felt her stability slipping through his fingers.

"It means..." Coran said in a frantic tone. "We have no control over where we're going!"

Shit.

That set Lance on edge a little, because when he heard that, he felt his stomach sink as his grip on the blue lion slipped a little. He felt Blue's confusion as she swept down a little. Suddenly, the nose of Blue almost crashed into Red's leg. Luckily, Red turned harshly and looked as if it was struggling to regain balance.

"Fuck!" Keith shouted into the intercom, hurting Lance's ears a considerable amount when Lance almost tipped Keith. He sounded frustrated and really pissed. "Now's not the time for your shitty piloting!"

Lance gritted his teeth, but he couldn't form a witty remark in the very moment.

"I'm trying!" Lance was screeching. A tiny piece of the ship's white walls almost ran into Lance, and he screamed as he avoided it. "The castle's throwing bits and pieces towards me."

Lance was practically infamous back at Galaxy Garrison for being a terrible pilot. If it wasn't for the lack of people who actually wanted to be a fighter pilot, Lance would've probably become a cargo pilot, or not even make it into the program at all, which sucked every time he thought about it. It was always his dream to become a fighter pilot.

But he never had trouble flying Blue. They had a special bond, a special connection, which made it much easier to pilot considering you ship already knows what the hell you want to do. Blue always knew what to do, before Lance could even put his hands on the wheel. She would always tell him what to do, when Lance is in the heat of battle and can't think straight. If someone saw them, they would think Lance was such a great pilot, when in reality, Blue was such a great lion.

Unfortunately, Blue was now uncooperative, seeming to be in a sort of hysteria as Lance was. Even if she didn't speak words, Lance was getting images and telepathic messages that meant that Blue had no idea what was going on either.

"Allura!" Shiro cried through the chaos. He sounded tired and restless, but as determined as ever, even with a sense of panic. "What's going on?"

Lance heard a bunch of things being knocked over and Coran in the background screeching. The castle was spinning as well, but at a considerable amount as they were being plunged forwards and backwards. Allura made a panicking sound. "T-The wormhole!" She cried out. "It's unstable!"

Something in the castle broke and Allura's breath hitched. "I don't know if any of us can hold on any longer!"

The castleship was spinning, as if it was a rocket that just shot into the sky. Even as durable as it was, the partical barrier was unstable and they just took many hits from the attack. Lance was suddenly grateful about the size of his lion, having to contain that ship must of been awful.

"Has anyone thrown up yet?" Hunk managed to sputter out. "I think I'm going to throw up."

"Guilty," Lance muttered shamelessly. His grip tightened on the steering wheel of the Blue Lion. Lance grit his teeth and moaned. "Why the hell is this wormhole unstable!?"

His eyes widened as he almost ran into the castle ship, and he steered clear of that. He ranted a string of curses and was sweating profusely. Lance didn't want to become the castle's roast chicken.

"The wormhole!" Allura realized, exclaiming loudly. "When Haggar shot at us, she shot the wormhole!"

Pidge was groaning, the green paladin was the calmest in the group. He didn't know how, since Pidge was the type of person to verbally express what they felt about everything. "We should've gotten rid of the old hag a long time ago," they muttered.

The castleship was probably in worse shape than it was before they fixed it up. One of the glowing blue stripes at one of the four engines were blinking rapidly from a neon blue to a bright magenta. The usually glistening, smooth white walls of the ship were cracked and scratched. The engines emitted smoke and lightning blue sparks of electricity. Lance couldn't tell if it were his eyes deceiving him or not, but he could see a Galra blaster wedged into one to the edges of the ship.

Lance could hear something faint in the background of her call. It sounded like blaring sirens, and crackling smoke. Was the castle-ship on fire?

Proving his suspicions, a blue light erupted in the corner, sort of like a miniature star. The castle ship was on fire.

"Oh god, oh my god," Hunk was hyperventilating. "Guys, I-I, don't know if Yellow can handle this for too long. She's sending mixed messages."

Lance's attention turned to Hunk's lion, who looked as if it was struggling to keep going in the direction it was aimed to go to. Lance felt a little jab to his heart. After all, it was Yellow that saved his ass the first time around.

Not only that, it was his best friend in there. Hunk was the one flying the beloved Yellow lion, and Hunk was a beloved part of the group. Hunk was the voice of reason every time someone wanted to do something reckless, and he taught everyone to control Hunk from his own desires as well. He was also a decent chef, considering that no one in the group really knew how to work with mysterious green alien goop.

More importantly, Hunk was Lance's best friend. He was his backbone, his main support. Even though Pidge was a close second, they even knew that they could never really replace what Hunk and Lance had.

Man, if Hunk wasn't his best friend, and head over heels for Shay, Lance would've so probably proposed to him now.

"Hunk!" Pidge was shouting over the blaring alarms. They were getting frustrated as well. "Control your stomach fluids for another time"

"I'm sorry I don't know the pleasures of not having motion sickness!" Hunk was screaming over the comm. The words echoed through Blue.

The headache that swarmed into his brain from all the chaos made him feel even more focused on the task ahead. The world around him seemed to shift slightly, and he couldn't tell if Pidge was ten feet away or ten miles away.

"Allura," Shiro sounded desperate. The Black Lion was easily the most noticeable in the wormhole, as it's dark colors contradicted with the bright neon pink and purple wormhole. "Where the hell is going to happen to us if the wormhole's been corrupted?!"

"Paladins," Allura tried to sound confident, but he voice cracked at the end. "If anything happens... if we don't make it, I just wanted to say I'm so sorry-"

"No!" Shiro shouted. "We can't give up! We will get through this, we will survive. No matter what, we'll always stick-"

A chunk of the castle screeched as it flew off straight into Lance's direction. His eyes widened as he steered harshly left, but the metal seemed to keep up with him. It crashed into Blue's right legs, causing a sound that sounded like a crashing piano.

The intercom was pure static when Lance felt his heart sink as he slipped away from the control panels. He now had no physic connection to Blue as the world swirled around him, the walls seemed to crush him from the inside. Lance didn't even feel his head crash into the ceiling as he saw the colors drift off into nothingness.

The last words he heard before it all went blank was the screaming of his name from his fellow Paladins, and the darkness of his consciousness enveloping his eyes and his mind.

◆

His eyes shot open as he gasped for air.

Lance almost screamed when his vision blurred and the ringing in his ears dragged on. It took a full minute for his eyesight to get back to normal.

His eyelids widened as he heaved when a swarm of _ERRORs_ flooded his helmet screen. Altean coding flooded in dark green as they begun to process his location in whatever solar system.

He threw his helmet across the floor when it became too much for him. Lance was not in the right state of mind for this right now.

Where _was_ he again?

His mind flashed back to the memory of the wormhole. The battle and the struggle to rescue to save Allura. The old hag screeching like a wild bird and shooting dark energy into their line of fire. Coran explaining their drastic situation. Everyone screaming when they realized they couldn’t control their lions, the instability of the wormhole knocking them over the edge. He crashed not so gracefully.

The back of his neck ached when he sat up. How long was he out?

Breathing heavily, he quickly turn his head to see his ever familiar surroundings. The inside of Blue was completely trashed, the control panels had wires sticking from the deck. Some of the extra green food goo in containers scatter from a broken pantry, but none were cracked open. The lights flickered with no pattern, and the room was losing its royal blue hue. Airbag type of objects seemed to deflate from the control panels, and the floor was littered with debris from the ceiling. Unopened medical kits still stayed intact in a glass like box that was cracked.

Lance felt quesy again.

His helmet was broken, a crack webbing through from his left. His uniform was dented a little on the arms, with tiny scratches, but it was otherwise fine. There was nothing to worry about.

 

_Don’t hyperventilate_ , he mentally told himself. _No time to be a wuss. You need to be the dashing hero when you get out of here._

 

Lance was about to let out a breath of relief, no further cuts, broken bones, or concussions to be dealt with. He almost felt extremely lucky until his eyes trailed down to the huge gash on his leg.

 

He almost puked again when the blood was looking like it was consuming his whole leg. His heart pounded through his rib cage.

 

Cringing, Lance looked back at the spot where he let out all his insides. Guess he couldn’t make fun of Hunk for getting motion sickness anymore.

 

Teeth gritted, he tried to sit up, but he only howled in pain when it only seemed to make it worse. He used his elbows to pull himself to the medical supplies that sat under that left side of the control panel. It hurt like hell on his arms, they were already sore enough for impact, but he managed to scoot all the way over the the glass box.

 

Lance tried to ignore the tiny glass prying on his gloves.

 

Opening it up, he unlocked and flipped the lid to grab a box with a weird Altean symbol on it. He dumped out the inside only to have his heart sink.

 

These were all Altean medicines and herbs. All were labeled in their weird foreign language and he couldn’t help but groan when he took out a piece of paper that looked like a guidebook.

 

Allura, throughout their excessive training and hard work, never taught them anything about language or any real knowledge of the universe. She taught them how to fight in a battle, to build a strong trusting relationship with each other to form Voltron, to try and make any possible alliances with any alien species ever.

 

The guidebook, unfortunately, looked extremely old. It looked like it used to be a clean white laminated book, but now it looked as if many Blue paladins from many generations had been in the same position as him, grabbing it with blood smeared in their hands. He couldn’t help but shudder thinking about what happened to _them_.

 

Not to mention, it was written in symbols and pictures that were all over that place, as if someone just drew one hundred swirlies and shapes and printed them on a paper without any known pattern.

 

He put on and tapped on his blue helmet and managed to croak out, “Translator, on.”

 

A tiny screen popped up that started off with static and a few red “ **_ERROR_ ** ” symbols, but it continued to lag until it said _Translator: Altean to English_ in blood orange. He waited for it to continue translating until it had a neon green symbol with the word _Completed_.

 

He took a silver container with a white stripe across it and opened it up which contained a clear liquid. The translator indicated that it was a soap type of water, so he figured it could help clean the wound. Lance took off the white leg armor and almost gagged at the sight of blood. It wasn’t a deep wound, thank god, but it was large enough to cover a good portion of his calf.

  
Lance then took a white rag from the kit and started dabbing on the wound, and he winced at the slight pain that overcame him. Once that was done, he took a purplish cream that the translator

indicated was an antibiotic and covered his wound completely with it. He got the seemingly normal bandages and proceeded to wrap his wound with it.

 

It hurt like hell, but he managed to tightly wrap the bandages around his whole calf until he was satisfied. He ripped out the end with his teeth and tied it roughly.

 

He looked at his bandaged leg and shrugged internally. He could work with this.

 

Grunting, he shoved the medical supplies back where they belonged, in the back of the control panels, where it was dusty and unclean. He turned off translator and slouched on his back, deciding to take a breather.

 

His tired, overworked eyes felt sleepy. Lance wondered how much face masks he’d have to put on his face to conceal his dark circles.

 

He looked up at the dark flickering ceiling, the light illuminating into the room from the windows. The light gave off a sort of lilac essence, and the dust fluttered around the room gracefully. Lance could see some good chunks of the ceiling that fell apart and cracked, and some golden wires that poked out through the holes. His breathing slowed as he calmed down looked at the broken ceiling, realizing Blue was still intact.

 

He slowly pushed himself up and turned to his helmet, which was scattered on the littered floor. He could see the tiny microphone in the side, and decided that right now, he _needed_ to talk to someone.

 

They were all in the same wormhole. They couldn't have drifted that far apart, have they?

 

Lance decided that the next order of business was to communicate with the others and get their coordinates. Find them and make sure they were okay, and to tell them _he_ was okay. Everything seemed well enough to function, and he had hope that there was someone near to him.

 

He pushed himself up into the chair and heaved out a sigh. Looking out in the window, he shoved his fingers on a few buttons, and rested his hand on the stick. With a hopeful mind, he proceeded a command, “Blue, let’s do this.”

 

The ship was quiet except for Lance’s steady breathing.

  
Lance was waiting. And waiting. And waiting until his face contorted with bewilderment. Lance could feel his panic rise to his throat as he said yet again with a cracked voice. “Blue, can we go now?”

One of the most important peices of weapony in the universe can't be damaged this badly, right? It survived eighteen Galra fleets shooting rapidly at it, the castles defenses, could even survive ten thousand years on Eath, alone.

The lion was silent and the only things that could be heard was the outside noises and another world he had no desire to explore. The dread crept up his spine and he felt his eyes go hot, tears threatening to spill. How the _hell_ did he manage to break one of the most important weapons in the universe?

 

“Please,” he begged. “Blue, wake up.”

 

He couldn’t lose Blue. Blue was the lion that connected with him the second he laid eyes on her in the cave. Blue was the first ship he flew and he didn't feel like so much of a terrible pilot. Blue was what he flew when he became the farthest man of humankind away from Earth. Blue was what he flew when his gut told him to go through that wormhole and become a paladin. When his life changed and he finally felt purposeful. The lion that he shared a connection with, an unbreakable bond.

 

Sure, the other lions let their paladins use them to help defeat Zarkon, but he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him that is was a business relationship, nothing more. They were built on nothing but strict orders. Unlike the other’s, Blue was his friend. They weren’t only protecting each other because they had to. It was because they cared for each other. He’s grown attached to the giant robo kitten.

 

That was until he could no longer feel the attachment.

 

He can’t lose his lion, Blue, who was the only thing that was with him on this wretched planet.

 

_Don’t leave me alone_ . _Please_.

 

He grabbed his helmet and started shouting, shouting incoherent words. He didn’t know his coordinates, or the planet he was on, or the galaxy he was in, but he told the helmet that he was fine, he was on some planet with a purple sky. He didn’t hear anything respond, but he trembled as he asked if anyone was okay.

 

_Fuck, not now,_  he chided himself.

  
Lance waited. And waited. He waited for a few minutes, the last parcel of hope fluttering in his heart. Lance desperately clung on to the possibility that he wasn’t too far off the star charts. Because maybe, just maybe, he might pick up a signal, or Blue would magically start up again and he can get the hell out of here, back to the castle, where all his friends would be waiting for him. And Hunk would have a nice meal made from the weird space goo and where he could tease Keith and where Pidge would build some weird machine and where Shiro would give everyone bear hugs. Where Allura would probably scold them for getting into a sticky mess but start sobbing and apologizing for also getting captured. Where Coran would make him feel better by laughing at Lance’s painful jokes and pat him on the back for doing a good job.

 

After maybe an hour or a few minutes, Lance wasn’t keeping track of time, the hope burned up in his chest. No sign of Blue waking up, or even starting ever again. No radio signal indicating a teammate, not even crummy static or Morse code or anything. Just the sound of his own heartbeat speeding up.

 

He felt his shoulders tremble and something wet fall to his lap.

 

_This is it Lance, you're a dead man_ , Lance thought bitterly.

 

This was how he was going to die. He was never going to see his family again. His siblings and his beautiful mother who managed to scrape up enough money to get him started at Galaxy Garrison. He would never see the white sands or blue oceans of Varadero beach, surfing in the crystal waters. Lance would never mess around with Hunk all the time, or eat his five star cooking ever again. He could never get to come around and ask Pidge questions he’s been dying to ask, because he felt as if he wasn’t as close to them as he thought he was. Lance would never get to tell Shiro what an utterly great hero he was to Lance, and even a better leader. Or Allura, and how he knew he was way out of her league and wanted to tell her that she is an amazing tough princess. And Coran, how he will never explain why Lance called him Luigi and Mario. Even _Keith_ , for the love of everything good, he was going to miss that stupid mullet haired emo.

 

Ugh, he hated the way he felt so desperate all of a sudden. Desperate enough to long for Keith’s comfort? Anybody would know that Lance was not himself that day.

 

Most of all, Lance was going to miss the constellations he knew so very well when he sneaked out to the Garrison, now lost to him as drifts to different galaxies far, far away.

 

_So very far, far away_. The very hope of getting back to Earth dissolved.

 

He was lost in another world as he’s accepting that he’s going to die on a planet that has very different days and nights than what he’s used to.

 

He suddenly felt a pang in his chest and it was as if it was a dam that couldn’t hold it in anymore.

 

Lance started sobbing grossly. It started off as a few hot unwilling tears, but the barrier broke and he just couldn’t help himself. He was a bawling mess and he felt himself shrink down to the floor where he hugged his legs close to his chest. The air felt as if it was pulled harshly out of him as he gasped and made choking sounds. His head felt light and heavy at the same time, and he was shaking. Lance knew he was, lying on Blue’s floor, a hot, hot mess.

 

Too bad the cockpit felt so very _cold_.

 

Was Lance overreacting? Probably so. He had a tendency of doing that, and that's why his family always chided him for being such a drama queen. Even his older sisters rolled their eyes during his early teenage years because of it. It was usually because of the sad parts in cliche romance movies or spilling his milk in his lap that he would overreact. But sometimes, sometimes it was something more.

 

Lance has had a few panic attacks in his lifetime, only when he was younger. He’s always been an optimistic kid, but sometimes he just needed a break from his big, rambunctious family and the people at school. Lance’s family wasn’t terrible, but they always seemed to like to pry, to tease. He would be a liar if Lance didn’t do that to his own siblings, but unlike what others thought of him, sometimes he liked peace and quiet. Unfortunately, sometimes the prying and the teasing got too much for him to handle, when he had so much of what they gave from his academy. Now, he got better at not taking teasing to the heart, although he gets frustrated when any of his fellow Paladins do it to him. Panic attacks were a long, long time ago, and the only experience he had with them in the last few years were helping his younger siblings get through them.

 

He felt like the breath was taken from his lungs. God, he remembered how much he hated this.

 

The floor under him was littered and dirty, and now very wet from hot tears.

 

_I’m going to die_ , he thought miserably, his breathing uneven and jagged. _I’m going to die here, alone and cold_.

 

Lance felt like a loser. Despite his countless flirtation attempts and dates he’d had in the last, he was never, ever, going to have a serious relationship with someone, never going to have a family of his own. He was going to die forever alone.

 

He never in his life thought that was a possibility, but here he was. Crying like a baby on the floor, _alone_.

 

_Lonely_ , he mentally thought, _I’m going to die sooner or later, and I’m never going to see my friends ever again._

 

Lance was startled when he heard a noise coming from his helmet. He scrambled to his feet, but tripped again and winced in pain when he realized his leg was wrapped up and bandaged. Grabbing hold of a seat, he fell to his knees and clutched the helmet like his life depended on it.

 

“ _Copy- are- he- La-!- there?_ ”

 

It was only static and disoriented speaking, but that meant that something or someone was near enough to make a noise. It was rough and occasionally going on and off, and only a few choppy words can be heard in the madness. He was starting to _really_ regret throwing his helmet around. Lance shook it and was repeating “Hey! Are you there?”

 

He continued to shake his helmet and yell at it. Nothing happened.

 

No one responded except for the broken static. Lance sighed in defeat, dropping the torn up helmet and slouching against the wall. His eyes felt tired of crying and his throats felt sore from screaming at an inanimate object. Why had he cried again? It did no use, giving up so easily. Maybe they were looking for him. Maybe they’d find him. Maybe they gave up. He felt his chest feel lighter. Maybe, after his crying episode, he can get back on his feet and accept a life here.

 

Maybe the static was from some weird alien planet not too far from the one he was on. They probably couldn’t hear him.

 

“ _Lance_?” A voice rang out and it made his heart jump. He quickly crawled back to the helmet and waited eagerly for it to respond, checking to see if it was all just voices inside his head, or him slowly losing his mind.

 

Debunking his theory, the voice came out again. “ _Lance, do you copy_?”

 

A Trying his best not to cry out from relief, he responded, “I-I’m here!”

 

The intercom was still giving off static, but the communication signal got better by the minute. The person’s voice was sounding clearer, and Lance never felt more relieved in his life. What are the odds, that in an infinite and immeasurable universe, that one of his teammates were in the same galaxy as he was? It was pretty low, according to Coran. He felt like jumping for joy.

 

Coran explained to him that the universe was way bigger than what Lance has previously thought, it was an never ending system of dying stars and newborn planets. They were alone, Lance still dealing with the dreadful thought of dying in space, and Coran decided to teach him, after the crystal was fixed of course. Coran explicated the usage of communication around the galaxies. “The lions are fairly old, but we can easily replace their communicators with newer models from unconquered planets,” Coran explained. “For now, the best you can do is have a strong communication with your fellow paladins from an eight thousand mile radius and their faces can pop up in your lion. When we get new ones, we might even get a signal to Earth.”

 

The static was starting to fade, and Lance could start to hear a disoriented breathing. For some weird reason, it comforted him.

 

“Oh thank god,” the other sighed, relieved. Their voice sounded shaky but full of hope, and Lance was praying he wasn’t going to sound the same way. “I thought I was just hearing voices. You’re always blabbing in the speaker.”

  
Lance was absolutely _jubilant_. He was starting to thank every person that led up to this point, every high being for giving him this luck. The universe finally decided that they felt bad for him. The person sounded just as alleviated as Lance was, and he was so grateful for the person on the other side of the communicator.

 

Lance decided that _if_ he actually does get back with the others, he would cherish them like his life depended on it. Even Keith.

 

Wait.

 

_You’re always blabbing in the intercom_?

 

It clicked and Lance couldn’t help but feel his heart twitch in distaste. His face contorted into a scowl, and he crossed his arms like a toddler.

 

Lance groaned, his expression turning from hopeful to sour. “Out of all the intelligent life in the universe, why was I stuck with _Keith_ ,” he whined.

 

Of course. Of course it was Keith. Lance couldn’t help but wonder why the universe was severely unfair to him. Why the universe decided to toy around with him, or why the big man in the sky decided that Lance was his favorite use of entertainment. The string of bad luck that connected with Lance seemed to be laughable apparently.

 

Throughout his life, he’s always cherished the moments when he actually had a tiny fraction of luck dance it's way into his life, because the moments always seemed so rare. From being promoted from a cargo pilot to fighter class, eventually finding and piloting the Blue lion, becoming a defender of the universe, and not dying from his recent missions, he’d say that he’s probably used up all his bad luck.

 

Unfortunately, he probably used up his share of _good_ luck.

 

Not to mention, he was happy that _Keith_ was there. This was probably one of the most humiliating things he ever done in his life, and there was many moments of that.

 

Keith’s groan mirrored Lance’s. “ _Can you stop being a dick, for like, ten minutes_?”

 

Lance felt his scowl grow. He huffed. “I have you know, I’ve refrained from being a dick for at least an hour.”

 

Suddenly, a thought nagged at his brain. His blood was dried up when he woke up. The alarms were gone and the cockpit was unusually quiet, if they crashed, the alarms would go on for about five hours at least. There was no stench of smoke or a sign of a fire that was recent. Lance never thought he would be so unsettled by peacefulness.

 

“How long has it been since we crashed?”

 

Keith was silent for a moment. “ _I-I’m not really sure, but when I woke up, there was still smoke emitting from my lion, and that was sixteen Earthen hours ago_.”

 

 

Well, more great news for Lance.

 

“I’ve been out for _sixteen_ hours?!” Lance choked, voice cracking.

 

“ _Again, I’m not really sure_ ,” Keith repeated, sounding uneasy. “ _The fire looked fairly new when I woke up, but… I’m not sure how long it’s been like that._ ”

 

Sixteen hours? Lance has taken naps before, really, really long naps, but they don’t last more than half of the day. There was _always_ something to be done. Clean the dishes, wash the clothes, scrub the bathtub, watch his younger siblings, study, anything mundane. Or, related to his current life, train, clean the pods, scout for any nearby Galra fleets, defend the universe, make fun of Keith. There was so many things he could’ve done in sixteen hours. Good thing he took care of his leg before it got infected.

 

No one really noticed, but Lance was actually good at cleaning. He could leave his house spotless in under three hours, and that was impressive, considering he has such a large family with so many little children who like to knock over the nearest object they laid eyes on. The training room was always shiny and clean when Coran asked him to clean it, considering Keith likes the use the thing every single day. The thing was, he hated cleaning. Lance would never willingly clean if someone didn’t ask him to. Lance could’ve cleaned the entire castle in that time.

 

Admittedly, Lance would probably clean the entire castle six times to not be in this situation.

 

“Well,” Lance declared, sitting up with a grunt. He managed to not move his leg. Even if it wasn’t a deep enough cut to get stitches, it was enough to leave a giant scar and make him howl in pain. “There is no time to spare, I’m going to start finding a way to get out of this planet and fix my lion.” He felt a slight suspicion. “If it’s been at least sixteen hours, why haven’t you left with your lion?”

 

“ _Lance, we just fought at Zarkon’s base. I_ fought _Zarkon's myself, which took heavy damage, and Red wasn’t even responding then. Then, we proceeded to enter a corrupted wormhole, while flying pieces of the castle flew at our faces. Then, everyone fell out of that wormhole, and I was shot into space, then fell into a planet, which atmosphere burned up my lion quite badly,”_ Keith deadpanned. “ _My lion should probably be in worse shape than yours_.”

 

“Oh,” Lance said quietly. That made sense. If Keith’s lion was working, he would’ve probably left Lance without a second thought. He wouldn’t even bother to look. Lance felt the side of his mouth tug upwards. “Is that a challenge?”

  
“ _No Lance, it wasn’t a_ challenge,” Keith snapped impatiently. “ _It was just a fact. I can hear Blue’s fans on, I can’t even hear Red’s. Why do you make everything a challenge?_ ”

 

 

“That means we have to get to work, _mullet_ ,” Lance responded in a nasty tone, not answering the last part. He picked up his helmet and kept it under his arm. He could hear Keith groan quietly in annoyance. Lance started to walk, but hissed in pain when he applied pressure to his damaged leg. Whoops. He forgot about that.

 

“ _What is it?_ ” Keith asked in a worried voice, completely contrasting from his previous tone. “ _Is something wrong_?”

 

“Just my leg,” Lanced grimaced. He stood on one foot and leaned against the wall.“I think the broken glass from the inside walls cut it, it’s pretty deep. Luckily, I have no concussions or broken bones. How’re you holding up?

 

“ _Oh_ ,” Keith responded, as if he hasn’t thought of it before. He pondered for a moment. “ _Apparently I have a sprained ankle_.”

 

Lance really, really tried not to snort.

 

“ _Apparently_ ,” Lance mocked. It’s been sixteen hours since Keith woke up, and he hasn’t noticed that his ankle was sprained? “Go get that fixed up before you do anything else. Applying more pressure just makes it worse.”

 

“ _Gotcha_ ,” Keith grunted, seemingly getting to work on his ankle. He could hear things clattering on the floor. “ _I haven’t really moved from this spot_.”

 

Keith was a mystery to Lance, maybe that’s why he hated him so much. Keith was hands down the most talented pilot the Garrison has seen in years, barely even at classes because he was chatting with the senior honor roll students. He was going to work as a pilot for one of the most important space institutions in the nation, working on missions like Kerberos and maybe even farther. But he suddenly got booted before he made it to the end of the year before. He acted cool, patient, and rode a hovercraft and knew martial arts like a badass, but he didn’t even know how to chant correctly, and was awkward around parties. Keith didn’t even notice his ankle was sprained, as if it didn’t hurt, but was sulking when Lance didn’t remember their “bonding moment”.

 

Lance was convinced it was all a facade, and Keith was a grade A asshole on the inside, and maybe that’s why he disliked Keith so much. Keith did everything so perfectly and pretends to not realize it, like a narcissist.

 

Then again, Lance wasn’t exactly sure what Keith’s intentions were.

  
Lance snorted. “You said you woke up sixteen hours ago, how did you not know if you have a sprained ankle or not?”

 

 

“ _I kept waking up on and off,_ ” Keith explained. “ _When I woke up the first time, it was dark. The alarms kept on going off, and there… there was a fire outside. Red’s fireproof, so I wasn’t too worried about her burning or anything. My helmet was working fine, and the time was 3:30 on Earth. I kept on waking up at random times, and now it's 19:24. I guess I was a little sleepy on my part_.”

 

Lance frowned. “Are you sure you don’t have a concussion?”

 

“ _I’m fine_ ,” Keith assured. “ _I’m pretty sure it was the lack of sleep the past few days, but for now, I’m taking it a little easy_.”

 

“Positive?”

 

“Positive.”

 

“Good,” Lance replied, but not feeling at ease. “That’s good.”

 

The air was silent yet again, ask if no one knew what to say anymore, now that they reassured their stability in the situation. Lance felt as if he had so many questions, so many things that he needed to understand, to fathom. Thoughts clung on to his mind, and he wanted to say something to make sure Keith knew that Lance was glad that he was here. Unfortunately, Lance knew that his pride couldn’t take the smug teasing of Keith’s.

 

Lance, to his dismay, has experienced Keith’s clap-backs first hand.

 

“I’m going to go outside,” Lance decided after a minute of hesitation. He stood from his sitting area, refraining from crying out in pain this time. He put on his helmet and put on oxygen, just to make sure that he wouldn’t be strangled to death by the lack of it. “I don’t actually know where I am.”

 

“ _That would be real helpful at this point_ ,” Keith responded, but with no bite behind his words. Lance had to desist from letting his mouth run on it’s own this time, snark on the tip of his tongue.

 

“Let’s just hope that this planet isn’t a gassy uninhabitable wasteland like Venus,” Lance joked, but in reality, was terrified that it might actually be a possibility. What if it really was like Venus, the sky barely visible, air mostly carbon dioxide, and with little to no hope of repairing his lion? The thought made him hesitate before he pushed the lion’s button open.

 

His breath got caught in his throat as he looked at something jaw-dropping.

 

The sky was a gradient from a deep shade of indigo to a soft warm lilac. The clouds looked surreal, a light shade of violet that made the huge clouds look like a grape flavored cotton candy heaven. They framed the bright white dwarf sun, which was far but shone and contrasted brightly against the lilac sky. Other planets outlines could be seen, the closet had two great rings circling it. There was a far, tiny moon in the background, but there must have been another, or even two more.

 

Land was just as beautiful as they sky was. The bright cerulean plants swarmed the landscape, rich and healthy looking, as if they were plastic. Skyscraping trees hung over the ocean cliff. The trees resembled palm trees, but the bark looked like an oak’s, and the leaves were a violent lightning blue and the bark was a light shade of tan. The cliff was tinted a pastel lilac, as well as the sand below. The minority of red, giant flower like plants stood out in the cool colors. The water reflected the sky, which was soft purple, but it had a tinge of blue in the exact right lighting.

 

The clash of blue and violet made everything seem calm, instead of the bright, red, fiery explosions he had to see everyday. The stars illuminated so brightly in the sky that it just looked like tiny, miniature suns swarming around it’s king. Everything felt motionless, barely any wind, and the water swaying as if it was dancing to a slow song. The cliff, which looked like purple limestone, felt cold to the touch. In fact, everything felt cold.

 

Hell, this was _nothing_ like Venus.

 

It was the exact opposite. It sent shivers down his spine.

 

_Home_ , he thought. _This reminds me of home_.

 

“ _Lance_ ?” Keith voice rung cautiously in the intercom. “ _You there_?”

 

Lance was immediately snapped out of his trance. “Yeah! Yeah… I’m here. The sight’s just so… _beautiful_.”

 

Keith snorted. “ _Wow, you’ve finally acknowledged something other than your own reflection_.”

 

“Shut your quiznak,” Lance snapped, knowing full well he was probably not using that word correctly. He let out a long breath. “Just, just let me enjoy my peace and quiet for awhile.”

 

It was silent, except for the soft rustling of the the leaves and branches, and the sound of the water shifting on the rocks below. The vibe of the planet relaxed him, like his own personal stress reliever. The beach and the waves reminded him of the beach he loved so dearly back on Earth. Lance didn’t exactly know what Paradise felt like, but damn, this felt close enough.

 

Lance didn’t really think of the afterlife, or believe if there was really one at all. Ever since science evolved drastically, faith was slowly dwindling down. No one really believed in religion at all, except for certain organizations and families whom passed in down generations to generations. He always lived in the here and the spectacular now. Maybe if this was heaven, he’d start to rethink his de

 

“ _Lance_ ,” Keith interrupted. “ _I’m not trying to abrupt your moment over there, but I need your coordinates.”_

 

“Can’t,” Lance murmured. “Helmet keeps on saying _ERROR_ everytime I try. Doesn’t seem to have a name for the planet, either.”

 

“ _Ugh_ ,” Keith groaned. “ _Mine is still processing the coordinates, it’ll probably take a while for the helmet to process it without the mythical knowledge of the lion or whatever._ ”

 

“Yeah. Don’t know if my helmet’s able to process it, I even surprised I got a signal from you.” Lance sighed and sat down on the cliff side, taking in the view as if it was a work of art he would never lay eyes on again. “Wouldn’t mind if this was the place I’d spend my life on.”

 

An uncomfortable silence arose from Keith, and Lance wondered if he said anything wrong. After a shaky breath from Keith, he asked, “Lance, are you okay?”

 

The faint smile on his face and his sleepy facade instantly changed. Lance was sitting up now. “Why’d you ask?”

 

A feeling of hesitation came from Keith, and Lance felt as if he had to brace for the worst possible scenario. “I-I dropped in a little earlier than when I actually responded. The communication was only static, but then I heard you, I think? You sounded like you were crying, and you sounded scared?”

 

The panic in his brain was on overdrive. How long was Keith eavesdropping on him? Lance never felt comfortable when people found him in his most vulnerable state.

 

Lance responded almost immediately. “Psh, me? Crying? I-I don’t know what you’re talking about. Me? Scared? I bet you’re scared, mullet. Even if I _did_ , you’re such an eavesdropper. Why would you think I’m scared?”

 

Lance knew it was a weak attempt, and he was rambling, but it was the best he could conjure at the moment. What would Keith make of him, crying like that?

  
“Fine, but Lance?"

 

"Hm?" Lance hummed.

 

"Send me your location," Keith breathed, his voice unsteady but firm. "Let's focus on communication, I just need a time and place to come through."


	2. II: let's focus on communication

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance isn't helping in Keith's situation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY FUCK guys sorry about the late update ily. This was suppose to update weekly. 
> 
> after last weeks election I decided to take some time off, even though this was due last week. Hope you understand. <33
> 
> aLSO DID YOU SEE THAT YURI OB ICE EPISODE OO BOI

Keith was livid.

  
Of _course_ he knew something bad was going to happen, going after Allura. The intensity of the moment made everyone immediately rush to save her, but at least he thought this out before jumping right in. His fellow paladins thought they were ready to fight Zarkon’s central command, thought bravery was going to fix this. Keith knew they were not ready, not prepared. Keith knew it was going to fail. The plan was not full-proof.

  
It wasn’t like he didn’t want to save Allura. Allura, whether they liked it or not, was an important asset to forming Voltron. Although many of their personal encounters have not been as well as it could have been, Allura was still someone he cared about. She was their fiery, passionate, and technically the real leader of Voltron, but Keith never brought it up for Shiro’s sake. They never saw eye to eye most of the time, and Keith would be lying if it wasn't his fault most of the time, but they respected each other like a student would respect a humble teacher.

  
But Shiro, Keith knew Shiro. They’ve had a close bond for many years, and Keith knew the young man was intelligent. Shiro was a star pilot, someone anyone easily admired. He was the brightest and the best. He was calculating, kind, and a true leader at heart. However, Shiro was also recklessly selfless, which was one of the reasons he had a huge gash across his face. Keith completely understood why Shiro wanted to go after Allura so soon, but they needed a plan. They didn’t have a plan. They had a flawed one, and that led them to their own downfall.

  
It wasn’t like he wasn’t off the hook. Keith wasn’t as so innocent either. Instead of following Coran’s simple commands to get the hell out of there, Keith’s instinct made him go after Zarkon, alone. His own recklessness and desires led him to waste time fighting the all powerful Galra emperor. Keith knew he shouldn’t have challenged the purple overlord so early into the battle, the war. He should’ve followed orders. But everyone knew he wasn’t too good at that, anyways.

  
However, blaming the problem entirely on someone wasn’t going to help him now, or ever. Keith knew that. Out here, if the vast variety of space and planets where it was going to take a while to find them, Keith knew sticking his head up in pride of ‘I told you so’ wasn’t a helpful tip. The only thing that mattered now was to find a way to repair his lion and survive.

  
Unfortunately, that didn’t stop Keith and his unequivocal, stubborn hot-head.

  
It didn’t help either that his only help in the situation was Lance. Keith cringed just thinking about it. They were apparently unmitigated rivals, according to Lance, and he was never going to let that go. Lance, who took every opportunity to jab a terrible insult at Keith or trip him in halls or glare at him from across the room. Lance, who sneered at him while he ate dinner or talked badly about him when he was still in the room. He was the only person on the ship that made it his job to make Keith’s life harder.

  
Did Lance hate him? Apparently so. He liked to make sure Keith knew.

  
Keith doesn’t remember a time where he did something, or anything that could make Lance despise him. Keith never even spoke to Lance back at the Garrison, even though they had some classes together. He didn’t even think that Lance even knew who Keith was, considering Keith spent most of his time hanging out with the seniors or in his dormitory. In the contrary, Keith had noticed Lance. It was hard to not notice Lance, who was constantly goofing around but was easily one of the brightest students in his classes. It was his goofing around that made him a cargo pilot, when he could’ve easily became fighter class.

  
Lance was easily one of the best pilots the academy had to offer, it was just that Keith was widely regarded as the best. And if Lance didn’t screw up his last flight simulation of his third year, Lance was no doubt becoming a fighter pilot. Keith still believed that Lance should have been a fighter pilot.

  
After the attack at the castle back at Arus, he truly, really thought that Lance and him pushed away their differences. That Lance and his petty rivalry were changed into mutual understandings of each other. Or maybe that Lance, Lance would at least be a little more kind to him in the future, maybe even become friends. But no matter how many times Keith would save him, help him, cradle him in his arms, it was going to take a whole lot more for Lance to even hesitate before striking an attack on his appearance, his intelligence, even something as stupid as the way Keith eats. It was infuriating.

  
So why did Keith try _so_ hard?

  
It was, for the most part, his job to get along with teammates.Voltron couldn’t even be a thing if they didn’t get along like they do now. It wasn’t too hard, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge were already friends before this whole fiasco, and Lance and Keith knew each other already. Shiro, well, everybody in the entire nation probably knew who Shiro was. The brave, young soul who died in the Kerberos mission. It wasn’t too hard to want to become friends with a guy like that.

  
At this point, it was common knowledge that paladins had to be in the same state of mind to form Voltron. They all had to have some sort of connection with each other that let them have the same goals, which was pretty hard, considering they all had drastically contrasting ones. Keith didn’t care what they were, since he didn’t want to roam around any of his teammates brains without their consent.

  
If a teammate, like Lance, wasn’t willing to even sit next to Keith, defeating the Galra empire was going to be a challenge.

  
Another reason was that he wanted to be comfortable around Lance. Not to suddenly become best buds with him, but at least to be able to speak his mind without the thought of Lance mocking his ideas and opinions. Or to be able to eat at the dinner table in peace without bracing himself for a kick under the table. To be able to shower in peace without Lance making fun of him.

  
The last one was wishful thinking, but it was Keith’s wishful thinking. Keith knew he wasn’t too eager as well to suddenly forget everything and just be nice to Lance, but he was willing to push differences aside.

  
When he told Shiro about his troubled thoughts, Shiro looked him deep in the eyes, and Keith had a gut feeling that he knew what Shiro was going to say, and he regretted telling him anything.

  
“Why don’t you just go talk to him?”

  
Keith groaned involuntarily. “Yeah, sure Shiro. I’ll just have a normal, civilized conversation with someone who doesn’t want to be in a ten foot radius of me.”

  
Shiro shrugged. “Wouldn’t hurt to try. Besides, you’ll have the conversation eventually.”

  
If Shiro were here right now, looking at Keith from a distance, he would be laughing right now. Because when Keith was stranded on a foreign planet, with no one to talk to except Lance, it would be the perfect opportunity to have that conversation. The whole situation was ridiculous.

  
Especially since Keith heard Lance in a vulnerable state, because he sure as hell knew Lance was lying, he wasn’t too good at it under pressure. Keith wanted to confront him about it, tell him that it was okay, but Keith himself wasn’t ready for Lance to pry on his personal life.

  
Keith wasn’t ready to spend whoever knows how long with Lance alone, but he couldn’t really do anything about it, could he?

  
After patching up his ankle, Keith decided he needed to take a look outside as well. Leaning against the wall so that he doesn’t apply any excess pressure to his ankle, he skipped to the door and made sure his helmet was fastened tight enough, to make sure that if there was toxic air outside, none would slither it’s way into his helmet. Bayard in his hand, he slowly opened the mouth of his lion.

  
The planet looked like something out of a zombie apocalypse movie. The sky was scarlet red, giving him a vibe completely opposite to if it was a sunset. The land he crashed on was covered in gray dust that looked like silver sand. Steel and metal skyscrapers towered over to his left, and the gray sand to his right. The clouds looked more like black smoke, and the sun was large and hot and burning. No signs of plants or life were near him.

  
The land of waste was completely garbage, and Keith made sure that his helmet was fastened so he wouldn’t have to smell the vulgar, burning waste that could do so much worse than smell terrible.

  
It hurt his eyes just to look at, bright red glaring back at him. The steel structures weren’t helping, either.

  
Keith made sure all his systems were up and running. He didn’t want anything to accidently malfunction directly into his face, or even have the system make his helmet shatter completely. All systems looked relievingly fine, even the symbol that indicated his communicator was on.

  
“I’m going to go ahead and scan the planet right now,” Keith informed Lance, who was humming a sweet melody in the other side of the intercom.

  
“ _Copy that_ ,” Lance responded after a heartbeat.

  
Keith couldn’t help but feel annoyed and intrigued at the tune Lance was humming. It sounded so familiar, but Keith couldn’t quite grasp what the song was. Lance, on the other hand, seemed quite familiar with it, as if he listened to it a thousand times before. It was sort of endearing and comforting that a calming sound was played in such a creepy planet.

  
“Processor, on,” Keith commanded.

  
The screen immediately zoomed onto an icon that flew from the right corner of his eye to the center. It blinked the word ‘processor’ for a good ten seconds, then the icon immediately transitioned to green, indicating to was starting.

  
After a moment of processing, the corner of his vision read **Planet Icarus, 5,893 miles, Population 13 billion, 4% carbon dioxide, 25% oxygen, 69% nitrogen, 2% other.**

  
“ _You have a reading?_ ” Lance asked. “ _What does the planet look like_?”

  
“It’s,” Keith started. “Like a horror movie. The atmosphere is red and it’s creepy, the buildings look rusty and abandoned and steel and stuff, and the sand is gray. I don’t even know if it’s really sand. It’s also really hot, like oven baking hot. The air has like four percent carbon dioxide. The sky’s red, too.”

  
Lance whistled. “ _Sounds terrible. Make sure never to remove that helmet, never really listened in eighth grade science but that’s a ton of carbon dioxide_.”

  
Keith groans. He stuck his foot in the gray sand, and it looked like it consumed his whole foot, which wasn’t pleasant. “Why did you get the nice and comfortable planet?”

  
“ _It’s not all rainbows and butterflies here_ ,” Lance defended. On the other line he sounded like he was ruffling through some dirt. “ _It’s super cold here, and I don’t know if these plants are poisonous or not. There’s no animals, and I’m guessing this planet is like in it’s early paleozoic era, because there’s legit nothing. Besides, you planet has a bunch of useful resources to fix your lion. Except this plant that’s shaped like a dick. Pretty useful_.”

  
Keith snorted. Unfortunately for Keith, Lance was right. Keith isn’t suppose to live comfortably and wait for someone to retrieve him. There was a little chance of Keith surviving for that long. The only priority on Keith’s mind was to repair Red as soon as possible, and get the hell out of there.

  
And Keith needed to get out of there with Lance. No matter how much he wanted to kick Lance into the abyss of space or drown him in the green food goo, Lance was a very essential person, because he was a paladin of the Blue lion, which helped them form the most powerful super weapon in history. If he just left Lance there, it would be near to impossible to defeat Zarkon with only four lions. Also, Lance was his teammate. It would take a toll on his conscience knowing that he left a real, breathing human being stranded on a planet in the middle of nowhere.

  
The middle of nowhere. That made Keith shudder involuntarily. He still wasn’t totally aware of his location.

  
“We should get to work, then,” Keith replied. “Not a minute to waste.”

  
“ _Right ahead of you, better keep up_ ,” Lance said, and Keith could hear shifting in the background. Keith rolled his eyes at Lance’s competitive nature.

  
Making his way to the steel city, he couldn’t help but notice how quiet and deserted it was. For a planet that held thirteen billion intelligent beings, he would expect it to be a little more crowded. But all he could see was an empty ghost town.

  
It sent shivers down his spine. The city was _not_ okay.

  
It was even more eerie up close. There were abandoned shops and hoverbikes littered on the streets. Doors were left wide open, dirty glass scattered on the sidewalk. There was graffiti in a language Keith didn’t understand, but they were in an urgent orange. Screens that resembled billboards were shattered and dusted. Pots with dead ash-gray plants were decorated outside some buildings. The red his made his reflection the the steel sidewalk look terrifying.

  
Keith didn't put down his sword, though. He knew that this must have been a populated planet, and by the looks of it, something that resembled a nuclear wasteland. It was just a matter of time before someone or something captured or killed him on the spot.

  
Cautiously picking up something that looked like a vacation brochure, he swatted away any dust that covered the words. The words, Translator: On, flashed against his vision, and it took awhile for it to process. Even if he was impatient, his stance didn’t falter, grip on his sword tight. Keith wasn’t taking any chances.

  
**Translator: Failed**. Keith groaned externally and tossed the brochure back on the floor.

  
“ _What’s got your panties a twist_?” Lance slightly laughed his ear, making Keith want to throw the helmet and drop-kick it into the white sun.

  
“Translator’s shut down,” Keith snapped. He almost tripped over a broken bottle. “I suppose _you’re_ the only one here that needs it, considering you don’t even know third grade English.”

  
Keith could practically hear Lance fuming in the intercom, and Keith definitely shouldn’t be proud of that. “ _W-Well at least I know that mullets suck!_ ”

  
Keith snorted, but with no amusement.“At least my comebacks aren’t terrible.”

  
“ _Your_ hair’s _terrible_!”

  
He couldn’t help but exhaustingly sigh and let his shoulders drop from annoyance. Why was Lance like this?

  
“You know, if you weren’t such a little shit-”

  
Suddenly, a loud thud could be heard from the distance. Whipping his head around, Keith could see a small cloud of dust just a few feet away from him. A broken, dismantled door fell and shattered behind him, obviously from aging. The sound echoed through the empty ghost town.

  
“ _Keith_?!” Lance cried, his voice annoying loud in his ears. “ _What the hell was that_?!”

  
Heartbeat steadying, Keith let out a sigh of relief. “Just- Just a broken door.”

  
A glint of bright, yellow light glared in his eye. Keith realized that the source illuminated from the second floor of the building. Breath hitching, he immediately transformed his bayard back into its sword form, the blade ripping through a piece of discarded cloth. Keith hastily took a step forward.

  
Looking up to the abandoned building, he realized that this building was entirely made out of one-sided glass, unlike the other completely metal buildings. It was incredibly tall, and looked as if it was well polished and kept clean compared to the rusted structures that neighbored it. The sign that labeled it was written in metallic purple. Even though Keith couldn’t understand it, he had a gut-wrenching feeling that this building was important.

  
Taking a hazy step forward, Keith rose his shield to his chest, ready for any attack or security droid that could happen upon him. He made sure his footing was careful, otherwise he might step on a sharp, large piece of glass.

  
Turning on his light, he could see the eerie room clearly. It looked exactly like a hospital lobby back on Earth, or the big laboratories the Garrison owned. The room was completely silver and gray, matching the outside area. The ceiling lights were shattered and looked like they burst. There was a silver looking front desk, which held the same logo as the outside. Blank screens were hanging on the walls. Chairs were littered on the floor, as if someone flipped all of them in anger. There was a hallway that led to stairs. Keith couldn’t help but feel a nasty taste on the back of his tongue. The room looked so much like Earth.

  
Walking up the silver stairs, he could see that there was papers scattered on the walls, but none looked messy. Wincing with every step, careful not to put too much pressure on his ankle, he climbed the endless stairs. It shocked him that such a clean cut place like this didn’t have any graffiti or vandalism.

  
The upstairs was a little more brighter than downstairs, considering the light from the outside illuminated better. There was a bunch of normal looking doors that led into various offices, but one was completely steel, and looked as if it was variously hit with a hammer and forced open. There was a codelock on it, but it was smashed and wire flung from the panel. The source of light was calling to him from the room.

  
Stepping over when was appeared to be broken glass, he looked up at the mysterious sight in front of him. The giant room was filled to the brim with empty glass containers, most of which were broken or empty. The room looked strangely familiar…

  
Gasping, Keith looked in horror at the glowing, sickly yellow liquid that was discarded and abandoned on the floor. It was covered with shattered glass next to the others, but he would recognize that anywhere.

  
“ _Is everything okay, Keith_?” Lance asked quietly, but worriedly.

  
“Quintessence.”

  
“ _What_?” Lance deadpanned in absolute confusion. “ _What do you mean by that_?”

  
And Keith could feel it as if it was yesterday. In fact, it _was_ yesterday. The hollow roomed that was stacked with raw quintessence. The old sorceress whispering chants. Him stealing the jar, unknowing of what he held. The thing breaking, his hand turning into a fading purple.

  
His heart fell to his stomach.

  
“The Galra,” Keith managed to whisper out, squatting down to inspect the honey- like liquid that glowed. Gulping, he was contemplating whether to touch it or not. “This was a Galran colony.”

  
There was a deadly silence that followed that, other than their own hitched breathing. Keith felt as if he could see every little piece of dust that floated lazily around him. The world below his feet felt still and the hypnotizing yellow liquid in front of him.

  
It was a reminder that didn’t even have to be spoken; Keith wasn’t safe. His lion broken and shut down, and he was in Galra territory. The intensity of the situation only grew, his problems only rising.

  
“ _Keith_ ,” Lance warned urgently. “ _You have to get out of there_.”

  
“Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to leave Red unattended,” Keith murmured to himself.

  
“ _Are you listening to me?! Get the hell out of there!_ ”

  
“Lance!” Keith snapped impatiently, which in all honesty, wasn’t what he meant to come off as. “The planet is completely deserted, and if you haven’t noticed, Red’s wrecked. I’m fine.”

  
As much as Keith appreciated Lance’s concern, probably the only time that he’ll ever be concerned about Keith, there wasn’t anything that could be done. It could be just luck, but there was no living intelligent species that roamed the city anymore. Probably because of the air and its toxicity, but Keith couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was off. Why have these containers been so urgently taken, messily stored? Was there a sudden major greenhouse gas leak that swept the entire planet, making it uninhabitable? Were the Galra suddenly not interested in such a shell of a planet.

  
“ _B-But-_ ” Lance spluttered weakly, seemingly thinking of a reason to back his argument. Keith wanted to roll his eyes at how much Lance wanted to argue with him. “ _You never know. The Galra were always eager to get their hands on quintessence. If they were there, there’s still a possibility they’ll come back_.”

  
“And enlighten me, what can you do about that?” Keith muttered, annoyed. He picked up an unharmed and unshattered jar. “I can’t get off this stupid planet anytime soon.”

  
“ _Keith_ ,” Lance snapped back, clearly annoyed as well. “ _You have to do something instead of wandering around in a foreign planet like a fucking buffoon You have to be prepared for an attack_.”

  
“I have one of the lions of Voltron and my bayard with me, what else do I need to protect me?”

  
“ _You’re lion is broken, Keith_.”

  
Using the lid from another jar, he slowly scraped the material into the glass jar. The honey-like substance was hard to put in, and it made the metal feel hot on his hands. Keith managed to take a good amount of the raw quintessence, and securely screwed the lid back on. He made sure not to place any of his skin near the liquid.

  
Keith knew that the quintessence would be useful sometime in the future. If the Galra valued and treasured the space liquid so much, what other uses could it be used for?

  
Lance scoffed in the intercom. “ _Wow. I actually try to have a good-hearted concern for you, and all I get is a shit attitude_.”

  
Keith wanted to scream. Did he really hear that correctly? Lance was the one who tried to be the nice one, the humble? Keith himself wanted to be nice, to make amends, but no, Lance and his huge and terrible ego and pride constantly mocked Keith. Even now. Even when Keith could clearly hear him crying, when they were the only ones that were near each other. Keith couldn’t push differences aside if Lance couldn’t.

  
“I don't remember even a minute of you actually giving a crap about anything but yourself, or me,” Keith snapped. “So you can stop pretending to be the fucking hero.”

  
Silence hung over them once again, and both parties seemed taken aback by the words that carelessly left Keith’s mouth. Gaping, Keith couldn’t even hear the others breathing anymore. The room was still, like it always was, like it always will be, and Keith wanted to slam his head against the door repeatedly, or chug down the whole jar of quintessence.

  
_Why_.

  
Why does he do this. Why was he like this. It was this boy’s mouth that made him unwanted, made every foster family return him like a gift they didn’t particularly like. This was the attitude that made Lance dislike him in the first place, wasn’t it? This was the mindset that got him booted from the academy. This is why Shiro, his most trusted friend, left. No wonder Red was so reluctant on Keith becoming her paladin.

  
If he was the reason that drove people away, he couldn’t blame them. He didn’t like himself too much, either.

  
A loud thud could be heard on the other end. After half a heartbeat, the clattering sound of a metal rung in his ears. Keith felt his heart drop to his feet when he realized that Lance removed his helmet, and was probably never putting it back on again. That left Keith alone, again.

  
He considered calling out to Lance, to beg him to say he was sorry, for everything he said, for whatever he did that ticked him off at the Garrison. For retaliating to Lance’s pathetic attempts to bug him. For being the only other person stuck in this situation with him, his only support, when Keith could barely even support himself. Or maybe for his lamentable excuses for apologizing, to make amends. Keith just wanted to make amends with Lance.

  
Was Keith entirely to blame? No. But he had a good chunk of regret.

  
Keith checked the time on his screen again. _22:03._

  
It has barely been three hours and they were already driving each other up the walls.

  
Keith could practically see the look on Shiro’s face, the look of disappointment. He could hear Shiro’s words, whatever the parental and brotherly figure in his life had to say. He would scold Keith for not only lowering his chances of survival, but his chances of actually becoming friend with Lance, making amends.

  
His anger quickly turned from himself to being directed at Lance. Why should Keith apologize for something that Lance does every single day? The Lance that decides to pick at Keith and water his growing frustration when he reminds him that Keith was a dropout, no good. Lance always jabbed at Keith’s weak points, his insecurities, like his hair, his status, his lack of patience. Keith is grateful that no one on the team decided to share that he was an orphan, another thing he didn’t like to talk about. Why should _he_ feel sorry, when Lance didn’t feel a pinch of regret?

  
Despite his better judgement, Keith didn’t want to have to be the better guy anymore, the one who didn’t nudge when an insult was thrown, but it was starting to annoy him when they did it every single day.

  
Keith decided that he was never going to apologize to Lance if Lance didn’t even want to talk to Keith in the first place. Looking down at the jar of quintessence, his face was a mixture of spite and determination.

  
He was going to fix his lion, with or without Lance’s help.

Keith felt his face fuming red, and he clutched jar of quintessence tightly. He walked back to the stairs to face the unknown world outside. Alone.

  
It wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling.

 

* * *

 

  
It has been three hours since Keith found the slightest bit of hope, the quintessence, for fixing his lion. The sky has turned from a bright scarlet red to more of a dark burgundy, making him have to use his flashlight more frequently. The buildings, as Keith didn’t realize before, were broken and had huge hashing hole in their corners, presumably from drastic explosions or worse. There were street signs that were bent crookedly, products from stores littered everywhere. Hover cars and boards laid waste and abandoned. It scared him a bit how much this forgotten wasteland looked so much like Earth.

  
In three hours, Keith managed to find an abandoned blacksmith’s shop, a bunch of unused, unfamiliar metals scatter on the workbench. Taking a reusable bag from the counter, he quickly shoved everything he could into it, hoping at least some of it could be useful.

  
Keith also went into a grocery type looking store, and found a bunch of frozen and canned , unfamiliar foods in the back. He didn’t know how old they were or if they could be used for human consumption, but he took the safest bets.

  
He also stumbled upon the section for utensils and other metal needs. There were kitchen looking knives and something that looked like a hybrid between a wrench and a hammer, and he took anything that looked like it could help him fix Red.

  
Other than that? Keith couldn’t find anything while he wandered aimlessly in the streets. There was a bunch of gray cloud looking gas, that Keith soon realized wasn’t fog, but he didn’t interact with at all. It made it hard for him to see from a distance, but he wasn’t too bothered. Besides, he hasn’t seen any signs.

  
Now, Keith was heading back to Red to drop off his supplies, which weighed heavily on his back. He’s been dragging the load for hours, and he thought it was best to stop for now, considering his ankle was not in the best shape. Walking silently, he was almost to the edge of the city when a flash caught his eye.

  
Heading towards the glinting metal, he picked up something that strangely resembled a human electronic tablet. There was a black, blank glass screen the covered the face, and it was hardly scratched at all. The metal was, contrasting to the reddish hue to the planet, was a pale, shiny blue.

  
Keith merely shrugged it into the other pile of junk he collected beforehand. The device could be useful for modifying his communication device.

  
Lance.

  
Keith hasn’t heard any response from Lance in the last three hours. There was no disoriented breathing or steady breathing in the last three hours. There was no jabs of humor or whirlwind of insults. No grunting or signs of pain and fatigue. In fact, there was no noise at all. Like he completely disregarded his helmet in the middle of who knows where, or even worse - he turned off the communication completely. There was no sure chance that they would ever be able to get a strong signal ever again, and Keith couldn’t really handle the reality of truly being alone.

  
It was different in the desert. Even if there was no person miles from him, Keith was still surrounded by animals, even the wretched snakes. Even then, he was still on Earth, where the population can be only counted in billions. He was never truly alone.

  
But here, stuck on a planet with no signs of any life whatsoever, he was terrified.

  
It wasn’t actually like Keith even tried to get to Lance at all in the last three hours. He himself hasn’t tried to say a word in the last three hours, in fear that Lance could hear it all. As terrible as it sounded, Keith didn’t want Lance to hear an apology that so urgently wanted to spill. Lance would get a good kick out of him.

  
Stubbornness, unfortunately, was one of Keith’s main personality traits. He wasn’t so stubborn when he was younger, but years of moving and loneliness made it stand out more to a crowd. It was one thing that both he and Red shared that was probably the only reason why they held together for so long.

  
Every time Keith went out of his way to even consider apologizing to Lance, he was faced with the reminder that Lance didn’t deserve an apology. That even if he apologized now, that some time in the future, this scenario would happen all over again.

  
But what could he accomplish with this? Absolutely _nothing_.

  
Dragging his feet along the gray sand, he finally made his way out of the city and back to the crash site. The sky was already getting darker, the sun almost completely gone, the sky losing it’s red. The world above him revealed that there were three tiny moons, the natural satellites all differing in size.

  
It all looked so surreal at the moment. Here he was, alone, on a planet that resembled Earth but was nothing like it at the same time, wandering in the middle of a gray, ash desert. There were not one, but three moons that shone brightly in the dark sky. The sun, instead of looking like a tinted yellow, was a hot, bright white star in the day.

  
When he arrived at the Red lion’s crash landing site, he didn’t realize how bad in shape she was in. The entire exterior looked like it was covered in smoke and black ashes, making the red almost unnoticeable. There were huge scratches and scrapes on the paint, something Keith didn’t even realize was possible, considering that Red has taken hits and left without a scratch. One of her ears were dangling from a wire, and the whole scene made Keith’s heart hurt in his chest.

  
However, he knew that all the real problems were in the interior, where the engine room was probably in shambles, the control panel useless. It didn’t matter what hits Red took on the outside- she was practically designed for that. The real weak spot was where the wires laid hidden, where a single piece of broken wire can damage the entire system. Unfortunately for him, there were multiple things that were damaged inside of Red. He had the find needles in multiple haystacks.  
  
Despite his current situation, Keith couldn’t help but feel relieved that he found this much stuff in only a few hours, even if he had no idea if any of it was useful at all. The quintessence that sat heavy next to him was probably the thing he should keep precious to him at all times. If this was the liquid that fueled Galra fleets, enhanced Galra technology, kept Zarkon alive for more than ten thousand years, it was definitely going to help get Red up and running. Especially raw quintessence.

  
Hoisting himself up into Red’s mouth with all his materials, he made sure not to use his ankle to do any heavy work. Keith just hoped it could heal as soon as possible without a healing pod near him.

  
The inside was as dark as ever, and Keith was getting a little tired of using his flashlight everywhere he went. Nothing changed, everything looked the same as it did earlier, except dark and creepier in the night.

  
Keith looked around the room in a haze. His first thought on his crumpled and dizzy mind was that for the last, long grueling months, this was the room he spent the most time in: the cockpit. And if he spent this much time cramped inside a room, he should know at least most of the rooms that resided inside this mechanical lion, right?

  
Wrong. Keith hasn’t spent much time anywhere besides the cockpit, much less an engine room, when Allura explained thoroughly that it would be nearly impossible for one of the lion’s of Voltron to ever shut down.

  
Scowling, Keith decided to take a look and explore the red lion for himself. After all, she was his lion, the one who saved him from getting lost in space (Although, it was technically her fault. But Keith doesn’t mention it). Besides, it wasn’t so hard to find an engine room, is it?

  
Making his way to the back door of the piloting room, Keith grasped the heavy bag on his shoulders, wincing with every step. Walking for three hours with a not well functioning ankle and no breaks was really starting to take a toll on his energy at the moment. He couldn’t help but notice how dull everything looked around him, instead of a blinding scarlet was darkness. It made his stomach feel uneasy.

  
He used a leftover crowbar from the streets to wedge open the shut doors, which made a loud, creaking noise at the discomfort. Keith felt immediately guilty when the doors were forced open. Wasn’t Red like a real, living creature, more than just mechanics? Could Red feel pain from this? He made a mental note to clean up every little scratch that he caused her.

  
Keith was a terrible pilot to do this to Red.

  
He jumped down to the long hallway, the handle that usually glided Keith easily to the cockpit too high for him to reach or even poke at slightly. The long hallway stretched unusually long, and he felt like his stomach hit the floor when he realized that indeed, she was way bigger on the inside than what she looked like from the outside, only adding to Keith’s detriment. Keith could barely see the end, even with his flashlight.

  
Was there a map or guide or something to help him get to an engine room? Keith’s weariness only seemed to grow by the minute.

  
Gulping down his fears, he made his way walking. The hallway seemed to drag on forever, and suddenly Keith was questioning whether or not he was claustrophobic or not. The walls seemed to close in with each step, and he felt as if he was a ticking bomb.

  
Even if it was just a minute of walking, Keith was getting terribly impatient with it, his frustration blossoming. Why did they designers decide to make a long hallway, even if all he had to do was slide down into the cockpit? Was it to test his upper body strength abilities? Or simply to tick him off? Because at this point in time, he wouldn’t be surprised that engineers and mechanics could see into the future and decide that it would be absolutely hilarious if they made the hallway obnoxiously long.

  
After about two minutes, Keith finally found a fork in the hallways. There were either directly right or directly left, and the gut-wrenching feeling came back when he discovered there were no signs at all indicating where and which rooms there were. He decided to take the right route, and kept a mental note to remember which ways he was going afterwards.

  
As he kept going his way, there was another fork in his path, and he decided to go left this time, just for the hell of it.

  
Was the hallways always _this_ confined? He sure felt as if they were, and felt as if he had to shimmy his way across the hallways.

  
It seemed like minutes, even hours have come by so quickly. It was the same pattern, the same fork, the same hall, the same path. The halls seemed to get more narrow, the halls seemed to stretch out, even though Keith knew that probably wasn’t the case scenario. Every step seemed to feel more daunting, more unsure. His plan was shriveling by the moments. His usually sagacious ideas seemed like child's play at the moment.

  
Keith was getting certainly anxious. How could he be lost? In his own lion no less. Months of battles, victories, bonding moments, and he was hopelessly wandering the empty, dark halls.

  
As one after the other forks in his path came across him, his frustrations grew into bitter temperament, and it was like a scowl was fixated on his face. Was this the universe’s way of telling Keith to fuck off? Or was it Red, who was secretly awake this whole time, playing games with Keith because she’s pissed that Keith crashed her into oblivion.

  
Too many halls, too narrow halls, too little time…

  
This was too much.

  
By the time Keith had reached what have seemed like the thousandth dead end, he was already shaking from exhaustion. He hadn’t even realized he was running frantically beforehand, like a wild goose. He hasn’t even noticed that his ankle was probably ten times worse than before, the swelling seemed unbearable. Keith hadn’t realized how much time has gone by, or that it was already 2:35. That he has been running in circles for an hour and a half.

  
What he did realize though, was the familiar pattern of the walls. Not his ankle, the time, his shortness of breath, but the walls. How they taunted him, mocked him.

  
He groaned, and angrily threw the bag of materials at the wall. This seemed so useless, wandering aimlessly in a mechanical lion that shouldn’t take this long to figure out. He should have figured something out by now. Keith should have found the engine room by now. Why was he having such a hard time?

  
He slumped against the wall that interconnected each of the three pathways ways. The heavy weight of his helmet was starting to do a number on his headache, and he desperately wanted to shove it off and throw it across the floor. But he couldn’t do that. Keith needed to stay alive. For Earth. For his best friend Shiro. For the him and Pidge’s conspiracy theories. For Hunk and his engineering tips and good cooking. For Coran’s comforting words and knowledge of the universe. For Allura and the relationship they need to strengthen. For-

  
_“You were a mistake.”_

  
Keith’s eyes shot open, burning into the metal ground. Despite the warm and blazing atmosphere, he broke into a cold sweat.

  
That really did make Keith snap. Breaking down in sharp, cut breaths, he huddled into a little ball and laid waste on the floor.

  
_“You were my biggest regret.”_

  
The walls seemed to be closing in on him on that very moment, and Keith felt as if he couldn’t get any smaller. They enclosed around him, wanting to crush him. His flashlight was scattered on the floor, motionless, like he was. Was the floor always this cold? It was so, so dark in there.

  
Keith occasionally had nightmares. He occasionally had nightmares when he was awake as well. But he never heard the voices as clear as they came across.

  
He knew the the scariest nightmares were real.

  
_The little boy was crying, sobbing, shaking, trembling. The room was dimmed, dark, glooming. It was the middle of night, the liveliness and awake of the city muffled by the gray, dirty walls. He lived in the heart of the city, the busiest place in the area. Toronto, one of top capitals in the world that developed major technology in the last century, was the place he and his mother resided to live with her boyfriend, even if they were American citizens._

_  
Except, that the said boyfriend ran off after six months of the relationship, and now she and Keith were on the verge of being evicted from the rather expensive apartment building, even if it was shabby and looked on the verge of breaking down at every moment. It was only a few weeks before school was suppose to start- he was going to start second grade, yet again, in a new school._

_  
It was no surprise that they traveled often- the New space era growing upon them, job offers in specific areas booming. His mother was indeed smart, she had a degree in systems engineering. She was intelligent, and companies around the nation needed more people like her. They constantly travelled because some companies offered more than others._

_  
But it was the classic story of one’s own downfall- romance. She met a sketchy guy don the internet which she talked to for months. When she described him to Keith, he pictured the guy as a prince, a model. But when they met, he was far from it. Not too mention a terrible influence on his perfect mother._

_  
However, Keith loved her. He trusted her. She was smart, she knew what she was doing._

_  
Then they decided to move to Toronto. Keith was skeptical at first, they just settled in Arizona, but she explained to him that it was major technology attraction, that there was a better job. That she could be with the loser, who lived in Toronto. It was the perfect plan._

_  
Until the old geezer decided to pack his stuff and leave. No note, no indication of leaving, he just took all his stuff and left in the middle of the night when his mother was still at work. And even worse, he took fifty thousand dollars right out of her wallet._

_  
She was in despair. Not only was she was a single mother again, but she was robbed of fifty thousand dollars- half a year’s salary for her job. And even worse, the company she worked for was bankrupt. Not to mention she wasn’t even a legal citizen, but no one cared if she was working for a big company._

_  
She had nothing but herself and her son. Her degree wasn’t going to save her now._

  
Keith was trembling, his breathing short. He didn’t want to think of this. He didn’t want to think of this this. He didn’t-

  
_She threw her beer bottle at the wall, and it shatter almost ten feet away from his face. He couldn’t muster up the courage to even scream. It was too dark in there. Besides, if he screamed, she would scream louder._

_  
“You’re a piece of sh-”_

_  
“Useless, scum of the ear-”_

_  
“No wonder he left, your father-”_

  
Was he crying? He couldn’t feel the tears on his face. When was the last time he cried? He didn’t know he was capable of it anymore.

_  
“M-Mom-” he tried in the smallest voice imaginable, but it was too late. She already grabbed the gun on the corner of the table, which was next to the cigarettes and drugs._

_  
He couldn’t help it, he was in horror. The breath was taken from his throat the moment her hand even ghosted the handle. He couldn’t even manage to whimper. Keith never felt so terrified around someone he trusted so much. He cared so much._

_  
He loved her._

  
Keith was grabbing at his hair, heaving. He wanted to rip off this _stupid_ mullet and tear himself to pieces. So he started screaming. His throat was raw, his eyes waterworks, but he screamed as loud as he could. Even if he was fully aware that there was no one near, no one out there, nothing here to save him from the existential crisis that was his mind. Himself.

  
He was used to the nightmares, the flashbacks, but usually he could shrug it off after a moment of rehabilitation. This, however, was new.

  
Because he’s been alone before, but he has never been truly alone before.

  
_“You’re a disgusting shit of existence!” She screeched like a lunatic. His moved waved the gun around like a silly toy. You were a mistake.”_

_  
Keith couldn’t stop crying, it was like a switch had been turned on and it was unable to stop. The street sounds only seemed to be louder, her rambling was deaf to his ears. When would this end? When would she just stop?_

_  
Was it even possible for Keith to scream any louder? Probably not. He never even knew he had the ability, but he guessed being alone in a maze made people do the impossible. His tears made his dirty uniform look shiny. Maybe he should do this more often._

_  
“You were my biggest regret-”_

  
“ _Keith_!”

  
Startled, Keith immediately choked back any more sound that was about to fall out of his mouth. Keith whimpered in an attempt to cover his mouth, as it was just as pathetic as it sounded. His heart was racing uncontrollably and unusually, he felt as if it was going to burst out of his chest. He was still crying, eyes wide.

  
He looked around, abashed. Is he hearing other voices as well? The halls were still as empty as ever, no sign or indication of anyone whatsoever.

  
Or was it-

  
“ _Keith, please, do you copy_?!” the familiar voice pleaded.

  
Lance. It was _Lance_.

  
Keith opened his mouth to say something, but quickly covered it as a muffled cry came out. He was still crying. And honest to the universe and quiznak or whatever, he swear he tried to say something. But at the moment, he could barely even form a coherent word or phrase. His body still felt at shock, like a permanent prison.

  
He was sweating more than usual, and it wasn’t because of the hot planet he was residing at. Keith felt like a weight was dropped on his chest, and that it was impossible to move. Even his mouth.

  
“ _Okay_ ,” Lance sounded as if he was trying to be calm and collected, but seemed he was trying to catch his breath as well. “ _Let’s try this. Let’s try to steady your breathing, okay, sweetheart_?”

  
Sweetheart? Keith wanted to laugh. That was new. It was probably because Lance had younger sisters who had panic attacks.

  
“ _Try to breath slowly when I say in and out, ‘Kay?_ ” Lance said with a reassuring voice that seemed like it was enough to calm Keith down. “ _Make a humming sound if you’re ready._ ”

  
Keith nodded, but realized that Lance couldn’t see him. He wasn’t actually there. Lance was drifting in some other planet, a nice, tropical planet that had a nice ocean and a lilac purple sky. It was calm and had a plant that strangely resembled a dick-

  
Keith, despite his current situation, snorted unintentionally, but he guesses that could be the humming sound Lance was looking for.

  
“‘ _Kay, let’s start,_ ” Lance responded. “ _Breath in… Breath out…_ ”

  
It was a rough start, but Keith eventually coordinated his own breathing with Lance’s words. He took in deep, rough, shaky breaths, and seemed to let them out in an instant. Although the treatment seemed to be working, his heart still pounded in his chest.

  
“ _Breath in…_ ”

  
Keith breathed in.

  
“ _Breath out…”_

  
Keith breathed out.

  
He didn’t know how much time passed by. Maybe twenty, thirty minutes? Keith wasn’t keeping track. He was focusing on breathing, on calming down. He was focusing on Lance.

  
The exercise seemed to be doing wonders so far. Keith’s exhales were no longer wobbly, and his knees didn’t feel as if they were going to fall apart In a split second. His hands didn’t grip onto his hair like his life depended on it, but they were rather hugging his knees instead. His heart slowed down incredibly, and Keith didn't feel like he was being choked by his own hand anymore.

  
It especially helped that Lance was there, his reassuring voice there to soothe it all away. And even if he wasn’t physically there, which Keith does not like to think about, he was still _real_. As real as ever.

  
After Keith has finally calmed down from his high, Lance stopped counting. Keith was suddenly left in the quiet. Did Lance leave already?

  
After a minute, his ever so reassuring voice came back. “... _Keith_?”

  
“Mhm?”

 _  
“I-I’m so sorry_ …” he croaked out, in a very uncharacteristic way. This made Keith sit up immediately. “ _If I didn’t storm off like that_ …”

  
“ _Y-You’re_ sorry?” Keith managed out, unbelieving. “I was completely out of line. I-I said some pretty hurtful thing and- you were just worried about me-”

  
“ _No_ ,” Lance interrupted. “ _I left you when you needed me. Alone. You know what that can do to some people? I’m an awful person for letting you experience that alone. Besides, it’s not like what you said wasn’t true_ -”

  
“Bullshit,” Keith hissed. “That’s bullshit and you know it. You are a hero.”

  
“ _But you’re right_ ,” Lance urged on, his voice sounding shaky. “ _I never considered you. I always thought of you as a rival, instead of a human being. I’m sorry_.”

  
“ _I’m sorry too_ ,” Keith responded in a raspy tone. “ _It wasn’t like it was a one-sided thing, I lashed back as well. I said things that weren’t acceptable. I’m sorry._ ”

  
Stunned silence went over them all. The quiet of the intercoms was as always, unbearable. Keith and Lance, neck to neck, finally admitting their faults and apologizing? Keith couldn't believe it himself. Although he knew that it was a little too early to call each other best buds, this was a good start to finally working as a team.

  
Keith didn’t even know if Lance considered them friends at all. But maybe they should. Maybe they could build a friendship. Maybe it could work out.

  
Lance, snapping Keith out of his thoughts, was chuckling quietly. “... _At times I wonder why I fool with you_.”

  
Keith thought about that for a while. Why did they fool around with each other? If they hated each other so much, why did they even bother to talk to each other so often. Of course it was for the sake of Voltron, for the sake of the universe, for the sake of everything good and pure about the worlds. But did they have to tease each other? No. So why would they?

  
But it was like an unspoken truth, that even Keith didn’t understand. It was the universe that made them cross paths, become teammates, or whatnot. There is more to them than what meets the eye. And yes, they were a good team. They were an excellent team. But the universe _always_ had plans.

  
Keith looked at his bare hand, which was once covered in purple.

  
“Well this is new to me, this is new to you.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> keith that's pretty edgy
> 
> Works that inspired me:
> 
> The Message by shipstiel http://archiveofourown.org/works/7970509/chapters/19698028
> 
> Magic Me Some Love by KaSePe http://archiveofourown.org/works/8262017/chapters/18929414
> 
> this love won't ever be convenient by Lynn1998 http://archiveofourown.org/works/7780750/chapters/19287658?view_adult=true
> 
> and Edgar Allan Poe. I've been reading some of his works and they inspire me in ways. ;)


	3. III: i just need a time and place to come through

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is trying to make amends with Keith. Keith isn't helping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all I'm so sorry about not updating due to the fact of 1.) sheer laziness and 2.) exams ;((. 
> 
> bUT HERE's More Recs that helped me finish this chapter:
> 
> Blindsided by aestover http://archiveofourown.org/works/7610761/chapters/20277889
> 
> nothing's quite as sweet by dimpleforyourthoughts, thebrotherswinchester http://archiveofourown.org/works/8626207 (really recommend)
> 
> also shoutout to the Hamilton soundtrack for getting me going :') 
> 
> aLSO YURI ON ICE DAMN

****If you'd ask Lance what he would be doing in the future ten years ago, he’d tell you he’d become an astronaut.

 

When he was six years old, his biggest dream was to go into space, or even work in the space program. It was all he talked about, he couldn’t even shut up about it. If anyone asked any member in their family about his ambitions and dreams, they would cringe silently, regret everything, and hesitantly explain to them that Lance wanted to go to space. Then Lance would explain why he wanted to for the next hour and a half.

 

Although, he wasn't too sure _where_ to go. Humans have come and gone, stopping by their moons more times than anyone can count. Humanity has even set up a local, nice little colony in Mars decades ago, so that was out of the question. All he ever knew was that he wanted to go to space and discover something himself.

 

His mom wasn't too keen about the idea, however. She always complained and argued how expensive it would be to send him to a good school that would teach him about astronomy and whatnot. The only chance of him getting into NASA was if he went to an Ivy League school and got a masters degree in whatever they needed him to be in. That was especially hard, considering they lived in Varadero, Cuba, where there were no Ivy League schools in a thousand miles radius of them.

 

But Lance was always as determined as he ever been, as he always been. Lance _hated_ to study, but he spent his extra hours after school skimming through the library to study things that were years above his grade level. He hated listening to teachers, but he made sure that he remember every word spoken out of their mouths. He hated going to school, but he makes sure not to miss a single day, which is why he skipped out on second grade. Lance didn’t even consider himself smart, but he sure as hell was a hard worker.

 

By the time he was a freshman in high school, news about a program was already the topic of the crowd. They called it the Galaxy Garrison, where, according to their logo, they would turn fine cadets into future space explorers. News was that the Garrison was looking for younger space enthusiasts rather than college educated students this time around. A new generation of space explorers.

 

So, of course, Lance was immediately intrigued by the space program. Apparently it was in the United States of America, between the California and Nevada desert. A secluded, highly secured area with plenty of room to train around in, to study. So, of course, without his parent’s permission, took the application test and passed with flying colors. Lance wasn’t the top students, but managed to capture their attention, which was all he needed to beg his parents to send him to America to study.

 

If you asked Lance when he was fourteen years old, still ripe and fresh into the Galaxy Garrison space program, what he would be doing in the future, prepubescent Lance would tell you he was the next generation of space fighter pilots. That he was already out there, searching for the unknown, with a crew by his side.

 

What they wouldn’t expect however, was that Lance was going to be the first man to ever fly out this far in space. A paladin of a highly important group of teenagers (and one adult) that formed the ever so highly destructive force of Voltron. Who’d be flying in weird mechanical lions in the sky and battling humanoid purple Furbys. That he’d probably have little to no chances of ever seeing Earth again, or his family.

What they _really_ wouldn’t expect was that currently, at the moment, Lance was laughing hysterically with his self-proclaimed rival, Keith, about a story when he was a kid. In the middle of who knows where.

 

Lance was out of breath, he was laughing too hard. Actually laughing. And he couldn’t help but feel so accomplished when he realized that Keith was laughing too.

 

In fact, Keith was _wheezing_ , wheezing so hard that it was almost impossible for someone to recognize that it was indeed, Keith Kogane, who was dying from Lance’s story. Because if anyone knew Keith for at least five seconds, they would know that he never laughed. His entire life.

 

Lance couldn’t stifle his giggles himself, usually one who tried to make his laughter sound more masculine or attractive when around other people, even if he wasn’t trying to impress them. “Okay, okay- so like, I was deep shit depressed, right? Like, I was so embarrassed after that, I even thought I was truly heartbroken, like I could never get over it. So I sneak into the kitchen at like fucking three in the morning, _distraught_ , and-”

 

Keith was laughing over hiccups, like he was a drunkard. “ _Oh my god- I can’t believe you tried to woo your crush with a fucking mixtape and a dying cactus-_ how.”

 

In the midst of being alone in your own lion for hours, Keith was doing pretty well for himself, beyond Lance’s wildest expectations. It was a little unnerving finding out that Keith was indeed lost in his own lion, with no clue as to get out. Not to mention that he had only two hours ago a vivid and horrifying flashback of a childhood memory (which Lance has no interest in bringing up in the near future) and that Keith was so shaken by it that he was screaming like he was being ripped apart. Lance has never seen a teammate in such a vulnerable position, even Hunk.

 

Lance sure as hell felt extremely guilty for the whole incident, even if Keith blamed him for it or not. He had just recovered from his own fear and his own panic that he didn’t realize that even the calmest party in the situation was probably in the same state of shock as he was. Even if they were always at each other’s necks, jabbing at everything each other did poorly, even if it was mostly just Lance, they were still just young kids. Who were thrown into the middle of a very, very old war.

 

Even if Keith was a little more shaken up than Lance was, who was he to be the judge of it all? The only thing that was on his mind right now was to distract the person on the other side of the call from their own worries and fears, their own meddling thoughts. Because that wasn’t just some random guy on the other side of the communicator, that was his _teammate_.

 

Even if it meant telling his long term rival all his embarrassing stories.

 

“In my defense,” Lance was grinning until it hurt, leaning against a gray tree that looked the most comfortable out of the variety. “I was a love struck thirteen year old boy who thought mixtapes that consisted of Queen and David Bowie was cool. And girls _adore_ cutesy adorable shit like miniature cactuses in pastel pots.”

 

Keith snorted, and Lance felt as if he had to physically restrain himself from commenting about it. “ _David Bowie and Queen are ancient, Lance. People barely even know who they were, kudos to her for even being familiar with them._ ”

 

“But you know who they are,” Lance retorted, feeling a short- lived victory. Lance sat back and played with the sand that seemed to melt in his rough hands. He was watching the sun rise in the distance, the dark indigo finally reforming back into that soft lilac he liked so much. “Anyways, I was legit in my boxers, heartbroken, full of misery, blah blah blah, and I decided that in order to make myself feel any better, it was time to treat myself. So I went into the kitchen, prepping myself for some of that amazing and savory mango ice cream and to watch old classic chick flicks all night-”

 

Keith laughed. And if it wasn’t the best thing Lance heard in days he didn’t know _what_ was. “ _You were always such a drama queen_.”

 

“Can’t help myself,” Lance hummed. “And so I was _so_ fucking ready to stuff my face in a whole tub of ice cream at three in the morning. So I take out the tub of ice cream, and practically fling the lid open. I didn’t even bother to get a bowl or anything, and my mom hates that, but I was brooding. So I shove my spoon into the mango ice cream, practically done with life, and start walking to the living room. But as soon as I try to take the spoon back out, it was stuck.”

 

“So I was there trying to take the spoon out, right? Standing, but I started walking again towards the couch. But guess what? The whole ice cream, a whole block of it came out, and like a quarter of it fell on the ground. And guess what? I freaking _slip_ on the freaking _ice cream_ on the ground-”

 

“ _Oh my god_ ,” Keith wheezed.

 

“-and I fucking slipped and fell and _hit_ my head on the fucking counter, still clutching the impaled cube of ice cream. And that’s the story of how my mom found me, at three AM, in nothing but yellow boxers and socks that were covered in orange, lying down on a pile of melted mango ice cream, while crying and gnawing at a still frozen block of that said ice cream, like a heathen, and clutching on a mixtape that had the words ‘for Nicole’ and a heart written on it in my shitty handwriting.”

 

Keith lost it, he was howling with laughter. It rung against his ears until it hurt, but honestly? It was probably the best thing in the world. It was like getting good news after a week of bad events. It was like finding a needle in a haystack. It was like finding fifty bucks on the street. It was like hitting the lucky jackpot when you had little to no chances. And a Keith that was genuinely happy? That was the cherry on top.

 

Lance couldn’t believe it himself. It wasn’t like his laughing was pretty, or even hilarious. It was between hiccups and a stuffy nose and it was far from attractive. But something about it made him feel like the luckiest guy in the universe, that he made some mopey angsty teenage boy laugh.

 

Or maybe Keith wasn't so mopey and angsty at all, maybe he was just misunderstood by many of the people at the Garrison. Or just Lance. He does recall the girls at the garrison describing Keith as “shy” and “mysterious”.

 

The laughter died down, but the good mood was still rioting to have a great time. Lance felt his stomach hurt, his throat scratchy. His head felt heavy with the weight of the messed up helmet. But he would carry the weight of two worlds for any of his friends. Even Keith.

 

A friend.

 

“ _Okay, okay_ ,” Keith’s voice was still hoarse, still shaky, but it sounded like he was far from miserable. Lance was surprised that he hasn’t even produced a cough yet. “ _I might not have any embarrassing crush stories for myself, but do I have one from Shiro. He still gets red everytime I mention it._ ”

 

Lance grinned, goofily. “Shiro? Our brave and strong leader had a schoolgirl _crush_? Do tell.”

 

He had a tendency to run his mouth. Maybe that’s way everyone got ticked off when they spent at least thirty minutes with him, maybe that’s why he was such a good story teller. He didn’t know how to shut up. But for this moping, angsty teenager? Maybe he would.

 

Keith hiccuped. “ _Okay, don’t tell him I told you this, but he totally had a crush on Matt Holt_.”

 

“Pidge’s long lost brother?” He gasped dramatically. “No _way_.”

 

“ _I know right_ ?” Keith laughed quietly. “ _I think Shiro was mesmerized by the popular son of that really famous space enthusiast. They were best friends and stuff but he would always get flustered and shit when he was next to him. He would be staring at him from distances like a creep. It was hilarious._ ”

 

“This is amazing blackmailing material, right here.”

 

“ _And- And one day, Shiro was just eating lunch, and was getting up to get more food. They were just informed about the Kerberos mission, so they were pretty excited. Matt tapped Shiro on the shoulder and was like, ‘Guess this makes us Kerber-bros_ ’.”

 

Lance snorted. “Remind me to give Pidge’s brother a high-five when we rescue his ass-”

 

“ _And you know what Shiro did_ ?” Keith was laughing, unable to contain it. “ _He ran into a freaking pole, and his food was all over his uniform. We lost it and were in hysterics and he was so red and-_ ”

 

Keith didn’t finish even finish his sentence, he was laughing so hard, a mixture of hiccups and sadness and happiness and just a whirl of emotions. It was equally heartbreaking and hilarious, Lance couldn’t even hold in his own laughter. There they were, laughing like buffoons in the middle of who knows where, because they were idiots.

 

Because they were teammates.

 

Because they were _friends_.

 

Anyone would say they lost it, they were crazy, they were insane already. It has only been two days of being sent to isolation. However, in the midst of a ten thousand year war, the climax of the battle, the eye of the hurricane, to them they were normal. A break from the shackles of the war. They were, in all aspects fine. They were good.

 

And if they went crazy? They would fall into insanity together. And that sure as hell was the most comforting (and pretty poetic) thing that Lance ever thought in years.

  
Even if it was with the hot-headed, ace pilot Keith Kogane.

 

“Initially,” Lance spoke through the giggled snorts and good mood. Keith snorting was almost too good to be true. “I didn’t want to fall for you.”

 

The laughing was suddenly cut to a short into a peculiar stop. The air that was initially all fun and games was met and slapped in the face with awkward silence and it was like there was a bomb and it dropped and exploded right in their faces. The world froze and it was suddenly very, very uncomfortable. Too uncomfortable. What was wrong?

 

For a split, grueling second, half of a moment, Lance didn’t realize what was wrong. Weren’t they having a, although he would never say it aloud, bonding moment?

 

One.

 

Two.

 

Three.

 

Then it clicked.

 

His smiling face suddenly dropped in horror and he slapped a hand over his mouth. Did he really just say that? He didn’t _mean_ to say that. Lance started fake coughing, very, very loudly. His face felt embarrassed. “W-Wait!” He spluttered. “Not like that. I meant for all of your tricks and games and jabs and stuff like that.”

 

Hell, he didn’t want Keith to think that. Lance didn’t want Keith to feel uncomfortable with Lance in this situation anymore, even though it sure felt awkward now.

 

Keith was, in all essence, just as embarrassed for Lance. He was spluttering and coughing, as if he was avoiding the situation too. Lance wondered if he took it seriously. “ _Y-Yeah, whatever. The feeling’s mutual. I’m sorry for falling to your stupid jokes_.”

 

Lance hummed to indicate that he agreed, although he really thought Keith had nothing to apologize for. In his opinion, it was all his fault. The guilt of having someone mental health in a crisis was really a turning point in Lance’s view of Keith, but not totally. Sure, Keith still may be the grade A asshole that Lance had put him out to be, but he also can be something else entirely.

 

In fact, Keith _could_ be a grade A asshole and Lance would be thankful he was there. Because honestly? Lance was a grade A plus asshole himself. He needed someone to set him straight. He needed someone to put him in his place.

 

Keith was not a rival anymore, even if Lance still plans to tease and make fun of him, because old traditions die hard. Keith wasn’t the cool ace pilot from the Garrison anymore. Keith wasn’t the dropout delinquent that was practically a flying legend. Keith wasn’t the weird dude that lived in a beat-up shack by the desert anymore. Keith wasn’t the guy that lived for conspiracy theories anymore. He was Keith, a person with a spectrum of personalities and one that could not be described by one stereotype anymore. And Lance was determined to figure out more of the colors the red paladin held. But that was something for later.

 

For now? For now, Lance would enjoy the sound of the crashing waves against the fading purple, leaning against a cool gray palm tree. Although it was less crowded than Veradero beach, with no smoothie shack at the corner of the road, lacking a tropical drink in his hand with his family, this was close enough. This would as close as he’d ever be to home. Even if Keith was here, and he wasn’t one you could call homey.

 

So Lance sat there, in a place far from Earth but felt exactly like it, taking in the smell of salt and flowers, the sound of Keith falling asleep making the universe, finally, feel at peace.

 

* * *

 

 

When Lance woke up, he was greeted by the bright, white sun and the feeling of _hunger_.

 

Man, he hasn’t felt immense hunger in years, especially since he he got recruited into the Galaxy Garrison, which probably served some of the best school lunches in the entire world. They had the belief that if their young space cadets weren’t being fed right, their performance would lack, and that was one of the only beliefs Lance could ever agree with the Garrison on. And fed well did they do. Savory delicious, genetically cloned turkey, with the steamed and mouth-watering vegetables that were not soggy and gross-

 

Wait. No. Now was not the time to be thinking of food when he was stuck on a planet with only green goop.

 

Groaning, he sat and up swiped a piece of gray seaweed from his forehead, which was a major difference than his usual face masks and cucumber eyes. In fact, he felt absolutely disgusting, he hasn’t showered in days, which is far worse than waking up with an unknown plant on his acne-free forehead, which he usually had an excessive skin-care routine on. He hasn’t even brushed his teeth in days, which made him cringe even more. Gross.

 

The sea, as usual, was as quiet as ever, which was a bit nerve-wracking for Lance, who was used to the sound of the seagulls when he was ever at the beach. The occasional hitting of the sand was like the stroke of a soft pillow, soft bluish purple sea hitting the soft lilac sand. Unfortunately for Lance, the clouds above seemed to depart, letting the bright sun shine heavily in his eyes, to the point where he had to squint. The bright sun made the usually purple sky seem a blinding purple white. This was not his ideal way of waking up.

 

He yawned loudly, stretching his arms over his head. His head ached a bit from the weight of the helmet, but it wasn’t awful. The paladin uniform was starting to do a number of his back, and even if Lance enjoyed walking around with the symbol of Voltron on his chest, he likes to stroll around in his usual blue baseball tee, jeans, and olive jacket.

 

Lance looked over at the sea, and the sudden urge to jump in overcame him like a wave. It looked like it demanded to be swam in, and he couldn’t resist the temptation.

 

So, Lance started to take off his various layers of his suit of armor, shrugging it off. One by one, the metal of the armor clanked on top of each other in a growing pile, and the weight of the armor off his shoulders was like a heaven in his back.

 

The silence was really starting to bug him, so while getting undressed, he started whistling a classic Earth tune he heard every now and then on the local radio. It was one of his parent’s favorites, because it reminded them of their grandparents, his great-grandparents. They used to dance to it while he was eating breakfast.

 

Lance _really_ missed his parents. But he really didn’t want to think about them now.

 

“ _Well, Sleeping Beauty’s finally awake_.”

 

Lance let out a high pitch squeal and involuntarily crossed his arms over his chest, only to realize that there was no one actually _there_ , and Lance was alone. He almost tripped over his armor. Lance’s face contorted into a scowl and he hastily uncrossed his arms while Keith was laughing in the helmet.

 

Unfortunately, Keith’s voice was still hoarse and sore, which kind of bummed Lance out. However, Keith seemed as if he was in high spirits today, so Lance promised himself not to press Keith too much.

 

Face feeling hot in embarrassment (which seemed to be a thing he has been doing lately), he huffed in annoyance. “Dude, don’t scare me like that!”

 

Keith was still laughing, but did Lance the courtesy of trying to clasp a hand over his mouth, muffling the sound. “ _I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but your scream is hilarious_.”

 

The scowl stayed permanent on his face, but relief over washed him when Keith sounded better than the day before. In fact, Keith sounded way better than before, the scratchiness of his voice faded and gone. Lance was thankful that he didn’t try to wake up Keith the day before. A good night’s rest seemed to work wonders.

 

“ _Also, you snore very loudly in your sleep._ ”

 

Nope. Never mind. Lance should’ve woken Keith up hours ago just to spite him. He groaned.

 

He popped his back and his back was immensely grateful to remove the clunky, confining armor that was his uniform. Although it made him look badass and cool, and got him some attention from some cute aliens, it was draining to have to wear the same thing every single day. Especially considering how heavy it actually was. Lance had a hard time believing the the small and scrawny Pidge could wear theirs for more than an hour. But then again, they could probably flip him if they wanted to.

 

Lance composure softened and his shoulders dropped. He let out a long, heaving sigh he tried to contain the whole event. “You feeling any better?”

 

Keith’s laughter quickly died down after the question, and Lance was starting to wonder if that was the wrong thing to say. Fortunately for him, Keith just sighed as well. “ _Yeah, I feel much better after sleeping. Haven’t got much of it. I even managed to find a way out of the maze_.”

 

“Good,” Lance breathed. “That’s good.”

 

Lance was jubilant that Keith managed to find a way out of Red. He sounded happier, better, and the weight was lifted off his shoulders.

 

Yet again, and Lance was starting to wonder if it was going to become a constant thing, an awkward silence overcame both of them, neither knowing what to say, or how to brighten the mood. He wanted to crack a joke, tell a story, comfort Keith, but all seemed like they weren’t the paths he wanted to take. He could just make Keith uncomfortable again, and Lance was not fond of going back to square one. He was determined never to go back to square one.

 

Were they always this uncomfortable? He wasn’t so sure

 

Breaking the silence, Lance cleared his throat. “I’m just… going to get washed up, if you’re okay with me removing the helmet. The ocean looks like it is demanding for me to cannon-ball into it.”

 

Lance could _hear_ Keith rolling his eyes. Keith snorted. “ _Just go, I don’t mind_ . _Make sure it's not acidic._ ”

 

His face was red when he remembered an incident from a planet they settled on to stock their supplies. Lance almost drank poison before the Minister screeched in his high-pitched voice, telling him to stop.

 

However, he was practically _glowing_ in excitement at Keith’s approval, already starting to remove the Black spandex long sleeve. Lance gently set the helmet on the sand, careful not to fling it around like he usually did. It’s been years since he dipped a toe in the ocean, and even if this wasn’t the greatest beach in the universe like Varadero, he still acted like a giddy twelve year old boy he was on the inside.

 

But the moment he actually did dip a toe in the bluish purple water, he regretted it instantly. The water was freezing cold, and he wasn’t exaggerating. It made a shiver run down his spine and made him gasp for air. But as much as he’d rather not swim in something that could be compared to the Artic Seas, he was unfortunately determined to swim and get himself cleaned.

 

“ _You okay there, Lance_?” Keith said in amused tone that made Lance kind of want to kick him through the speaker, but he didn’t want to accidently kick sand into his helmet. The stuff he has to deal with.

 

“Th-The w-water is f-freaking _cold_ ,” Lance hissed at the disregarded helmet lying on the sand. He took another step in and winced as he cover his arms.

 

Lance has been to many beaches in his life, it was part of him. Even if the Garrison was located in the California Nevada desert, he’s been to the overrated California beaches before. He practically lived in the Varadero beach when he was younger, always diving when he had free time apart from studying. Lance knew how cold beaches were.

 

Determined, Lance boldly took another five steps into the freezing water, and cringed at every step. He didn’t want to think about the fact that Keith was dying from laughter in the background while Lance was suffering this pain. He didn’t want to think that he was most likely going to get hypothermia because of the lack of common sense that resided in his brain. All he wanted was a quick wash and that was it.

 

It was weird, taking a bath in the ocean. But the water looked so clear, so clean compared to the polluted seas they had back on Earth. He could see the little cool-grey stones and the purple sand that crawled their way onto his toes. It was more like a gigantic swimming pool, and a really gorgeous one at that.

 

He was starting to wash off some dirt and dust in his hair (which was extremely cold in his opinion), when he could hear Keith say, “ _You checked for some man-eating giant fishes in the ocean_?”

 

Lance rolled his eyes. “H-Har, har, you’re hilarious. But no, there is a lack of any type of fish in these gorgeous waters.”

 

“ _You sure about that? You aren’t exactly the most observant person in the galaxy, Lance_.”

 

Lance gasped and clutched his chest dramatically. He made his huff audible and crossed his arms. “How dare you! I am probably the most observant person I know.”

 

Keith snorted. “ _Then you probably don’t know a lot of people_.”

 

“How do you know that I’m not observant?”

 

“ _Because you haven’t noticed there’s a shower in your lion._ ”

 

Lance gaped. He managed to stutter out, “H-How do you know there’s a shower in the lion?”

 

“ _Because I actually have eyes, Lance_.”

 

He couldn’t believe it. After all this time? After months of completely learning everyone’s shower schedule, so he wouldn’t accidently walk into any of his friends. After months of sneaking out while everybody was sleeping so he could take a nice, long relaxing shower? After he skinny-dipped in the middle of the fucking ocean? Blue hasn’t said anything?

 

Lance stormed out of the water, the splashing getting all over his face, which he ignored completely. He fell onto the bed of sand and fake-sobbed dramatically, hand over chest like it was a sickening sweet soap opera.

 

“Betrayal!” He cried out the no one. The words were lost in the sea. “Utter betrayal! By my own flesh and blood no less!”

 

Keith stifled a laugh. “ _We aren’t related, Lance._ ”

 

“That’s is where you are wrong, Keithy-boy!” He exclaimed dramatically in the same posh tone he used before. He tried to imitate Coran. Weakly. “We are Paladins of Voltron! Family doesn’t only mean people we are related to.”

 

And Lance wasn’t _really_ exaggerating. Anyone would think that this rag-tag group of young adults and a pair of endangered aliens would consider each other more than just co-workers. Because they weren’t just co-workers. Or people they were forced to work with- despite it seeming that way in the beginning. Because they chose to stay. They chose to protect not only the universe, but each other. And although Lance would never admit it before anyone else did, he did consider them family.

 

“ _O-Oh_ …” Keith said unsurely. There was an edge to his tone. “ _Family…”_

 

For some odd reason, Keith said the word family as if it was bitter coffee, as if it were a foreign word. Lance wanted to pry a little more, but the subject could wait for later.

 

“Yup,” Lance grinned at the sky, leaning back and trying to slowly make a sand-angel. “And there’s always a universal truth to family; you always can't pick and choose who you want, you’re stuck with them.”

 

“... _true_.”

 

Lance gleamed. “I’m always right!”

 

He picked up all his armor and clothes, which was, by the way, frozen to the touch. Lance decided that he was going to use the shower in the Blue lion, depending on whether it was working or not. He didn't know, but he hoped the Blue stored enough energy to give him a decent shower instead of swimming in the cold ocean like a madman.

 

“Sometimes people don’t always have the best family, but can’t be helped,” Lance shrugged. Then he softened. “I know we aren’t the best of friends, Keith, but I consider you part of my family.”

 

“ _I guess_ ,” Keith sighed out like it was weight off his chest.

 

 _“I guess_.”

 

* * *

 

 

Lance stepped out of the shower, and instantly regretted it, the cold air hitting his skin.

 

Turns out, the shower _did_ work, and Blue’s elemental was water, so it required no magical energy to function. Lance felt as if he forgot to breathe since the last time he took a shower, hot water was something he would never ever take for granted again.

 

He left the helmet outside the room, so he could spare Keith of his bad, loud, out of tune singing slash rapping of some Earthen pop songs that were way out of date. Lance didn’t know if it was safe enough to leave Keith by himself for a while, but he reminded himself that Keith lived in the desert alone for a year, he didn’t need Lance’s help that much.

 

Keith was a tough cookie from what Shiro heard from Keith. Stoic, unmoving resting bitch face, he _knew_ how to fight before

Sometimes Lance wondered whether he was a nuisance or an ally to Keith at all. The edge in Keith’s voice from their conversation earlier was unnerving.

 

Sighing, he put on his clothes and set him armor on his chest like he was getting ready for a battle again. He looked at the helmet wearily, unsure what to say. It seemed like that’s how he starts every conversation with Keith.

 

Unsure.

 

He used to start every single conversation to Keith with either spite, annoyance, cockiness, etc. Keith would retaliate with the same scoff every single time. Now? Now Lance was starting every conversation with caution, with kindness, with hope. Keith would shyly reply. Was it always this hard to talk to the red paladin?

 

Was he always this unsure of himself?

 

“Keith?” Lance asked. “I’m, um, done.”

 

Lance couldn’t think of a good nickname for Keith if he tried. The only nicknames that he’s called Keith so far were Mullet, Samurai, Hot-Shot, and 80’s hot mess. Lance didn't think any of them were… appropriate at the time.

 

“ _Oh_ …” Keith replied, like he was waiting for Lance in the first place. Lance wondered if he was waiting the whole time, because he was well aware that he took the longest showers. “ _Um… cool, I guess_.”

 

Cool? Was Keith _mocking_ him? Lance wasn't sure. So he decided a change of topic was in desperate need.

 

“The quintessence,” Lance blurred out, and for once he was thankful he didn’t say some stupid things like he did last time. Although, beforehand, Lance was curious to what exactly it was. “Why were you so excited when you found it?”

 

“ _Oh, that_ ,” Keith said as if he hadn’t thought of it before. “ _The quintessence I found was untouched, untampered. Half a jar of this can easily help Red get up and running_.”

 

Lance was curious indeed. Half a jar of _this_ stuff could fix Blue? “What exactly is quintessence anyways?”

 

 _“I-I don’t know much about what this was when Coran told me about it_ ,” Keith admitted, a bit sheepish. “ _But I’ve recently been looking up old Altean guidebooks in the cockpit, since the files at the laboratory where I found this was all in a language my translator couldn’t decipher, and apparently quintessence is something along the lines of its purest form._ ”

 

“How would one person, say I don’t know, a guy stuck on a primitive planet, acquire this quintessence thing-a-ma-bob?” Lance asked.

 

“ _Not sure_ ,” Keith replied, uncertainty edging his voice. “ _But-but it requires a ritual sort of thing. It's plentiful across the galaxy, so it's not rare. The only thing is that the process is difficult, and not to mention takes a while. All I know is… that you have to take something from a planet. It's nature, it's essence, it's soul-”_

 

“So you have to take the life of an entire planet,” Lance interrupted grimly. “Guess I’m not getting any soon.”

 

“ _The things the Galra been doing_ …” Keith voice rang in a whisper. “ _They’re slowly but surely taking out every single planet- solar systems, even. No regard for any creature or species living there, not even any regard for any other materials that could be useful to them. They’re- They’re_ parasites _. When we get out of here, I swear I’m going to fight every single one of them with my own bare hands_.”

 

“You want to fight anything that moves, Keith,” Lance joked. “Besides, it could take decades for you to punch every single Galra alive even once.”

 

Keith sighed. “ _It is entirely plausible that we could be out here for decades, Lance. Like Shiro said, we can’t make a ten thousand year empire disappear over night, especially one that is more advanced than us by light years._ ”

 

Lance’s heart clenched and his stomach twisted at the idea. Keith wasn’t wrong at all, it _was_ entirely plausible that time would catch up to them before they could even lay a hand on the Galra emperor. Lance just hoped that this would be like every test he’d ever taken, hoping that it would be over soon.

 

Yet again, death never seemed to bothered Lance, until he stared it right in the face.

 

Lance mirrored Keith’s sigh, feeling as if needles prickled at his heart. “Yeah… that’s what I’m afraid of, honestly.”

 

“ _Trying to stop the Galra empire_?”

 

“Never going back home.”

 

“... _Oh_.”

 

“Yeah…”

 

Lance played with his fingers while he spoke the Keith, because honestly, if he overthinked what he said to Keith, more information would spill. More unsaid things would be said. Lance didn’t want Keith to feel uncomfortable, it was his goal, but he didn’t want to feel uncomfortable in the process, either.

 

Was he overthinking? Yes. But that didn’t stop his big, fat mouth.

 

 _“To be honest_ ,” Keith said, shuffling around. Lance could hear the spare parts and scraps of metal in the background. “ _I never missed Earth._ ”

 

“What?” Lance said almost urgently. The movement of his fingers stopped and he sat up. “Why?”

 

 _“There’s nothing there for me back there_ ,” Keith explained, but strained. “ _Sure, I kind of miss my shack, but what’s the point now? I found what I was looking for. I kind of miss the Garrison and the simulators, but now I’m piloting every single day. Besides, the Garrison sucked ass, they were all douchebags.”_

 

“Don’t you have a family back home?”

 

“ _I have a family here, so what does it matter_ ?” Keith snapped impatiently, as if he didn’t want to talk about the subject anymore. “ _Just like you said_.”

 

Lance decided it was the best time to shut up. Evidently, everything was better when he closed his mouth, as evidenced by everyone in his entire life. Maybe it was best to keep the subject closed.

 

If Keith didn’t want to talk about it, Lance was going to respect it. He was going to respect _him_.

 

But that still raised the question. Did Keith not have a good relationship with his family on Earth?

 

“So,” Lance said, steering clear of the subject beforehand. “How _are_ you going to implement the quintessence into your lion?”

 

“ _Don’t know_ ,” Keith answered, sounding a little more relaxed than before. “ _I was originally going to try to look for some type of gas room thing for Red, but it didn’t seem like a magical robotic robot would have one, so I started looking for the engine room, which ended up being a bust._ ”

 

Lance felt himself wince at the mention of the engine room, but Keith didn’t seemed dazed about it at all. Lance was starting to question whether he was the only one who cared about it anymore. Or if he was the only one who didn’t want to avoid it as much.

 

“Remind me to look for the engine room myself,” Lance laughed awkwardly.

 

Keith snorted. “ _I implore you, don’t_.”

 

“Do you know if there’s another way to fix Blue, by any chance?”

 

Keith sighed, the question tiring itself. “ _Other than the stuff the Galra’s been using to power their entire empire? The Balmera crystals are the closest shot, but as you can tell, we’re nowhere near Balmera_.”

 

Lance felt himself slip down the wall, and he huffed in desperation. “Thanks for the info, Keith.”

 

“ _I’m sorry I don’t know how the fuck magical flying robots work, Lance_.”

 

“I know it’s not your fault,” Lance admitted. “But… it seems like there’s really no way out of this. No way to get back.”

 

Was there really a way to leave the planet? Lance wasn't as sure anymore, like the hope was slowly dwindling overtime. As far as Lance knew, this was a planet that held plenty of plants, but no animals. No one to take care and harvest magical ancient space crystals. No one to extract quintessence from the ground up. As far as Lance knew? This was a newly developed planet that was probably no where in Allura’s maps.

 

It made sense when he thought about it. His helmet indicated that they were still in space, as if the planet wasn't suppose to be there in the first place. Keith and Lance were literally floating in the same solar system, orbiting the same sun. Keith’s planet got the life sucked right out of it, so why haven’t the Galra extracted any life from a planet so rich of it?

 

Because the planet he was currently on was a new baby planet, probably born the same way Earth was; a literal hunk of rock floating endlessly in space when a bunch of asteroids with ice and minerals decided to jack it up to create a masterpiece. A messy, uninhabited (excluding the one person here) unappreciated masterpiece.

 

“ _Lance_ ,” Keith interrupted his thoughts, as if he knew well what Lance meant by that. “ _We are going to get out of here. To the others. Together._ ”

 

If someone said that Lance wasn’t stunned by that statement, they would be caught red-handed lying, because Lance was absolutely floored. Keith Kogane? The Keith Kogane? Grumpy ol’ angsty teenage Keith trying to give _Lance_ a pep-talk? Someone put this in the history books.

 

The distances Lance would go to get a video camera at that very moment.

 

Lance gasped, then choked back a fake sob, wiping away an invisible tear. His hand clutched his chest, and he made choking noises of pure happiness. “Aw, Keith! I didn’t know you liked me this much! Of course I’ll go on a date with you!”

 

There was a moment of pause, a very brief moment of pure silence, before Keith groaned and huffed. “ _You know what? I take back everything. You can wallow in sadness by yourself while I leave your sorry ass on that planet._ ”

 

“You wouldn’t dare!”

 

“ _Fucking_ watch _me, cargo pilot_.”

 

“How can I watch you?” Lance wailed dramatically, but the shit-eating grin still plastered on his face begged to differ. He was having the most fun he had in years. “You’re probably thousands of miles away from me, mullet!”

 

 _“I won’t hesitate to fling myself from planet to planet to knock the stupidity out of you_.”

 

“Try me.”

 

Keith was _laughing_. Laughing like a buffoon. This time it wasn’t through choked sobs and broken hearts. It wasn’t through mocking Lance and teasing him. It wasn’t for any of those reasons at all, because Lance, the no-good kid from the shadow of Keith’s made this kid laugh because he wanted to. Not because he wanted Keith to feel better, or that he made a fool out of himself, but because he had the ability to. He was able to make a sad kid laugh, and it was a better super power than what Voltron could ever do.

 

Maybe he wasn’t a no-good kid after all.

 

And maybe Keith wasn’t this cool, godly figure on the highest pedestal Lance put him out to be. Because sure, Keith was probably the coolest person Lance has ever met (Except Shiro, of course, because have you seen those arms? There’s a reason he’s the leader) but he wasn’t perfect. He wasn’t level-headed. He wasn’t up to date with the media. And Lance, as well as the rest of the crew, is sure enough to take the good with the bad.

 

Because Keith wouldn’t be Keith if he was such a perfect, grounded pilot. He was close enough to almost being the black lion’s paladin. Lance knew for a fact if something ever happened to Shiro, Keith would be second in line to take that job.

 

Lance tolerates Keith just the way he is.

 

 _Tolerates_.

 

“Huh,” Lance mused, resting his chin on his helmet. “Didn’t know you even had the ability to laugh, Keith.”

 

“ _Oh, shut up,_ ” Keith laughed, and Lance swore to the universe that he would protect that laugh by all means. necessary.

 

He was never one to be serious, but never the one to be over the top- dramatic either. Maybe being stuck in space did things to people. Maybe being stuck in space with a long-time rival made him happier.

 

It was a weird way of seeing things, but at least Lance had the ability to see them.

 

“Keith, I have to be honest with you,” Lance said voice a little deeper than before. He was surprised himself how serious his usually high-pitched and annoying voice was.

 

“ _If you tell me you’re secretly the moth man, you’re my new favorite person in the world._ ”

 

“What the hell is a _moth man_?”

 

“ _Never mind_.”

 

“So, I’ve been thinking about the past and stuff, right?” Lance said, trying to contain the edge to his voice. Lance looked at his own thumbs, something that people usually wouldn’t second glance at. But his thumbs held miniature scars that told the history of his life. The past. “When we were still kids at the Garrison…”

 

Keith snorted. “ _Yeah, Lance and Keith, neck to neck or whatever._ ”

 

“Yeah, that,” Lance quietly laughed at the memory, when they saved Shiro and Lance was absolutely distraught that Keith didn't remember him. “I just thought, maybe you would remember me?”

 

Keith was starting to get a little suspicious. “ _How could I? We barely talked to each other._ ”

 

“It’s just that…” Lance laughed bitterly at the memories, the childish, old memories, when suddenly grades seemed more important than talking to his mom on the phone. He regrets that, one of the biggest regrets of his life. “I spent so much of my time trying to one-up you, trying to beat you, trying to gain the attention of someone who didn’t even know I existed.”

 

“ _R-Really_?” Keith asked surprised, in a much higher pitch that his usual one.

 

“Yeah,” Lance slumped against the walls. His hair was still wet and getting cold from each passing second, but he couldn’t care any less. He needed to get this off his chest. “After the Garrison, I started to dislike school even more. I mean, I did hate it a ton when I was younger, but I only tolerated it to get myself a scholarship to the Garrison. I found lack of motivation for anything I was doing. I was in a slump.”

 

Lance smiled. “And then you came along, getting the highest fucking score anyone has ever gotten on any test, and I was so _shocked_. I was one of the best students there, and I couldn’t imagine someone one-upping me. So long, story short, I spent the rest of the year desperately trying to beat you. I spent all my time in the library, studying, having mental breakdowns, because of you. Rivalry was what kept me going.”

 

“Gather my attention it was all for you.”

 

Keith was dead silent. He made some sounds, indicating he was about to say something, but immediately shut his mouth.

 

After a while, Keith finally spoke.“... _You had a scholarship too_?”

 

“Yup,” Lance beamed, and he felt a surge of pride thinking about the reward of studying so hard in his life. “When they finally returned the letter in the middle of my sophomore year, I took my things and ran. Well, actually, I had to catch a flight. Cannot swim all the way from Cuba to America can I?”

 

“ _You’re from_ Cuba?” Keith awed. He seemed genuinely interested.

 

“Thought I told everyone about that,” Lance murmured to himself. “But yeah. Took me years to perfect my English before I even got accepted to the Garrison. I was a cocky little shit when I was younger.”

 

“ _Surprised_.”

 

“Oh, shut up.”

 

Lance and Keith talked for the rest of the night, laughing at one or the other’s mishaps or misfortunes. Lance talked to Keith until he fell asleep, the tiniest of sounds coming from his mouth. And Lance couldn’t sleep himself, the thought scaring him that if he fell asleep he would never wake up. After a while, a couple of hours or so, he finally felt his eyelids start to droop.

  
Unfortunately, his precious sleep was interrupted by the sound of a whimper.

**Author's Note:**

> I thought I was going to be so creative with this fic idea, until I realized that there are SO MANY post ep 11 fics that are out there lmao. This is suppose to help me get out of my writer's block that's been around me for like a year. then again, this is the first multi-chapter fic I want to finish, considering my other ones. I either get bored with the idea or get angry with my writing beforehand.
> 
> Inspired by: Smile for the Stars by malikcute http://archiveofourown.org/works/7586281/chapters/17719624?view_adult=true
> 
> i can't help but want by aknightley http://archiveofourown.org/works/7957831
> 
> follow my tumblr for more updates about the fic lol okay bye https://www.tumblr.com/blog/inelasco
> 
> (Un-Betaed, forgive me for the mistakes. Might be fixed in the future.)


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